Lievremont’s position now untenable
The try that wasn’t in Cardiff has been analysed to death and looks like producing another first with an official apology to Ireland from the IRB. That is only right but with Grand Slam-hunting England poised to visit the Aviva Stadium for the first time, it is also time for the Irish squad to move on and park the Trygate affair, irrespective of how much it has upset them.
I have always advocated that a bit of common sense should prevail when officiating at the highest level; given that the referee and his assistant missed four separate reasons to disallow Mike Phillips try on Saturday, what was wrong with the TMO being a little proactive?
When Jonathan Kaplan asked the question of Peter Allan whether the same ball was used for the quick lineout and got the incorrect answer, it would have saved a lot of hassle if the TMO whispered in Kaplan’s ear that it was a different ball. I accept this would be outside his remit but it would have saved an awful lot of consternation.
In 1973, in Murrayfield, Tom Kiernan, appearing in his last international, confirmed to an unsure referee that a drop goal from Scotland’s Douglas Morgan had indeed gone over the crossbar in a game that Ireland eventually lost 19-14. Had the TMO done likewise in Cardiff, I am sure nobody would have complained.
However, water under the bridge now and with honest reflection, a commodity not in short supply with this group of Irish players, there will be a realisation that Ireland still had the winning of Saturday’s game within their control.
If one looks at the bizarre and very uncharacteristic penalty miss from Jonny Sexton, coupled with the poor decision by Paddy Wallace not to release Keith Earls in the last play of the game, Ireland left a minimum of eight, and possibly 10, points behind. Either would’ve been sufficient to win.
Italy’s fantastic victory over France has been my highlight of the championship, with those memorable scenes at the final whistle demonstrating just how much the win meant to Italian rugby. Who says professional sport is all about money? To see the tears streaming down the face of inspirational captain Sergio Parisse and the reaction of the Italian coach Nick Mallett, who enjoyed so many good days at the helm of South African rugby, restored faith in the game.
Contrast that with the state of the national game in France at present. I am an unashamed lover of French rugby, the flair, panache and single-minded approach that they bring to the game. My admiration for them stems from experiencing their talents first hand when playing backs of the quality of Serge Blanco, Philippe Sella, and Jerome Gallion along with grizzled forwards like Jean Pierre Garuet, Philippe Dantrans, Jean Condom, Dominic Erbani and Laurent Rodriguez with various invitation and representative teams.
Look at the best moments in the short history of the World Cup and the French are at the heart of most of them, including those shock wins over Australia and New Zealand in those classic semi-finals in 1987 and 1999, not to mention that remarkable performance and win over Graham Henry’s invincibles in the quarter-final four years ago in Cardiff. Only France have the capacity to summon that type of performance from nowhere.
The French public must be horrified with their national side at present. The game at club level is flying with Toulouse, Biarritz, Toulon and Perpignan in the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup, not to mention the fact that Brive, Clermont Auvergne, La Rochelle, Stade Francais and Montpellier contest the same stage of the Amlin Challenge Cup.
To hear French coach Marc Lievremont claim he may not have enough quality players to select a World Cup squad from says everything you need to know about him. His public comments about his players, claiming they were cowards, lacked courage and that his RWC planning was “at a dead end” just beggars belief. There is no comeback for him. Look at the choice of players he has compared to Mallett, Andy Robinson and Declan Kidney. The French federation have failed French rugby and Lievremont should have gone after the humiliation of that 16-59 defeat by Australia last November.
While watching the opening half of the game in Rome in my hotel on Saturday, I was approached by a Parisian who had travelled to Wales with five other French colleagues for the Ireland game. He was a rugby fanatic and knew his facts going right back to my own playing days. When I asked him what they were doing at the Ireland game, he just said he loved the fanaticism of the Welsh crowd in the Millennium Stadium, wanted to see two honest teams perform and had lost faith in Les Bleus. I left the hotel at half-time in that game. I can only imagine their despair at the final whistle in the Stadio Flaminio.
Whatever problems Ireland have, one could never question the honesty, commitment and pride that the Irish players and management bring.
By comparison French international rugby is in a shambolic state and that saddens me.
After the disgraceful antics of their soccer squad in football’s World Cup in 2010, the French sporting public must be incredibly disillusioned. Immediately after the Irish game, I spoke to two respected French journalists and they were in despair, pointing the finger squarely at Lievremont.
While sacking the coach is normally the easy solution and in most instances the wrong one, Lievremont’s extraordinary outburst renders his position untenable. If France don’t address these issues then another talented generation of great French players will miss out on the chance of winning a World Cup. It is imperative that the French address their current deficiencies and shortcomings.
So much for our Gallic friends. England arrive here tomorrow looking to take a giant leap in the progress they have made since beating Australia in Sydney last June. England’s base at Pennyhill Park Hotel in Surrey was very far removed from the hype that will follow them to Dublin tomorrow when I visited it less than 24 hours after their tight squeeze over Scotland on Sunday. Martin Johnson was calmness personified even if he does appreciate that Ireland will come out with all guns blazing in their efforts to stop England achieving a clean sweep in the championship.
