My second favourite rugby team has always been France.
They always seemed so glamorous, so exciting to watch and spectacularly unpredictable.
French teams always seemed to have some sort of edge hidden under a layer of studied nonchalance and incidentally, the best kit in the six nations.
Add in the fact that they actually won matches; it often made them a much more enticing prospect than Scotland.
It is therefore somewhat unfortunate that they now seem to be led by a madman.
Marc Lievremont has never really been convincing as head coach of France.
He did win a grand slam in the 2010 six nations but in three years he has named a staggering 81 different players to play for France.
His previous low as coach was a 59-16 defeat last autumn at home against Australia but the humbling 22-21 defeat against Italy is even more humiliating.
More embarrassing perhaps though, could be Lievremont’s reaction to the, accusing his players of betraying the national jersey.
He said: “they betrayed us, they betrayed me and they have betrayed the French national team shirt.
“In terms of the tactics deployed, it defied belief. I did not recognise anything in their performance that we had worked on.
“Do you really think play told them to play as they did against Italy? I was ashamed. I do not have the impression that we asked them to walk on the moon. I do not ask for complicated things. This match was a hallucination. I do not want to clear myself but they invented things on the pitch,” he said.
In terms of bizarre sporting reactions it is right up there with the last time a French national team went into meltdown – last summer during the Football world cup when the players turned on their coach Raymond Domenech.
The similarities are striking, the combination of poor results and eccentric management are leading the French rugby team into mire.
Lievremont reacted has reacted to the Italy defeat by dropping several experienced players from his squad – Sebastian Chabal, Yannick Jauzion, Clement Poitrenaud, Jerome Thion, Sylvain Marconnet and Aurelian Rougerie have all been released.
Judging by Lievremont’s words many of them are unlikely to return.
“They are lacking in courage,” he said.
“They are good guys but they are cursed with what is clearly cowardice. They are not even capable of recognising their mistakes.”
This seems a bit rich coming from Lievremont who has never acknowledged his part in dragging French rugby into a downward spiral.
His first act as coach was to call up a load of little known and inexperienced players to the French team to make a point to the bigger clubs.
Of these, only Morgan Parra and Francois Trinh-Duc have established themselves as regulars and only Parra looks truly comfortable on the international scene.
His selection against Italy saw him drop the two outstanding forwards in his team Thomas Domingo and Imanol Harinordiquy in favour of veterans Marconnet and Chabal who both looked well off the pace of international rugby, even against Italy.
God help them against the All Blacks of New Zealand at the World Cup.
The French performance was muddled and confused with no discernable shape or game plan.
For Lievremont to absolve himself of all blame is ridiculous and will further drive a wedge between himself and his players.
The swagger and the verve has gone from French rugby.
Lievremont has ripped the magic out of them and it is a great shame.
Perhaps it isn’t the greatest French team ever but they are certainly capable of playing at a far higher standard than this.
Normally firing a coach just before a world cup would look like suicide.
For France at the moment the opposite is true, Lievremont must go.
He was given a chance to redeem himself after the world cup but all he has done is drag his team further into the mire.
On the bright side they still have the best kit.
