You through tinkering, Marc?

He’s been derided as an eccentric and his team dismissed in the national media as the worst French side ever to win a Grand Slam. Yet, despite all that, Marc Lièvremont is still smiling, writes Ian Moriarty.

IF A week is a long time in sport, spare a thought for Marc Lièvremont, for whom last year must have felt like an eternity. Just two months ago, his world was pulled apart when his Grand Slam winners were hammered 59-16 by Australia in front of their home crowd at the Stade de France. The match was the climax to a dreadful autumn series and an equally bad June tour to South Africa and Argentina, and it left Lièvremont’s World Cup plans in disarray and his job under threat.

Cue rumours of meltdown in the French camp and crisis talks between the coaching team and French Federation president Pierre Camou. Yet despite all the talk of splits and recrimination, Lièvremont survived, saved perhaps by the creeping presence of a World Cup year, but he did announce that he would go when his current contract ends after the trip to New Zealand in October. Hardly the ideal way to cap a Grand Slam year then?

“It’s hard to forget November and everything that happened back then,” admits the 41-year-old.

“Obviously you have to strike a balance between the good results at the start of 2010 and June, which were not good. The Autumn internationals were a disaster, especially with what happened against Australia. We must learn from what happened. Nothing is black and white, however. We’ve a got a side who are determined and motivated to do well and that’s what we’re going into the tournament with.”

To paint the picture of Lièvremont’s decline in popularity from hero to zero in a matter of months is wrong however because if truth be told, hero status was never conferred on the young coach following the Grand Slam triumph last year. Since his graduation to the French job nearly four years ago, his tenure has always asked more questions than it answered. Victory, when it came last year, came with the added baggage of having won ugly, a cardinal sin for those in France who see a win without ‘le rugby champagne’ as no win at all.

“As with the media, there will always be people who disagree with how you do things,” he says.

“I can fully understand why people are critical when you concede 50 points three times in eight months. But the excessive and unconstructive manner in which some have gone about criticising us have been wrong. It does nobody any favours.”

It could be argued though that Lièvremont has done himself few favours with his scatty approach to team management over the last few years. The tinkering with team selection, the dressing-down of some players in public combined with some bizarre tactical decisions have reinforced the view that he is unsure of what he wants as a national coach.

“To play for France, you must deserve the jersey,” says former French winger and Toulon coach Philippe Saint-André. “He has used 88 players in his time which is like someone going to a supermarket. But he now knows his best forwards so there’s no problem there. He has changed his wingers, centres and fullback all the time so that is where the (problem) is.”

However, for all the tinkering over the first few seasons, Lièvremont believes now that he is close to knowing his best side.

“Before November, we were talking roughly about a squad of 30 players, from which you would find the starting team from for this Six Nations,” he says.

“Obviously things didn’t quite work out that way but I’d imagine that my 15 now for this first match will still be pretty close to my 15 for the World Cup.

“In a squad, you need talent, freshness, guys who are capable of seizing the initiative but plenty of pragmatism too. There are certainly still areas of debate in the squad. I don’t have many injuries and plenty of players that can play different positions. Most importantly though, there’s a feeling that we have to redeem ourselves. We never went completely backwards (after Australia) but there is still plenty of work to be done.”

GIVEN THE losses through injury that all four home nations have managed to ship in recent weeks, it seems as though France have got off fairly lightly for once. Maxime Médard and Imanol Harinordoquy are both fit for tomorrow’s Scotland game; in fact Lièvremont has a relatively full pack, an achievement given this weekend’s game is French rugby’s 27th of the season.

He sighs when he speaks about the length of the season and the amount of foreign players in the Top 14 but seems almost resigned to the situation.

“Obviously it’s a huge issue but like everything it’s been a question of adapting. There’s no doubting the influence of foreign players in the Top 14. I go to some matches and 80% of the players are foreign. Some are good players though. I admire somebody like (Jonny) Wilkinson. For us though, we just have to deal with it.”

In spite of the trials and tribulations of the last few months, Lièvremont insists he’s still enjoying the job and still looking forward to the Six Nations.

“There are expectations from the public and the media but the reality is that there’s a World Cup coming up to think about but before that the Six Nations tournament and our first match against Scotland.

“A good start is important. Scotland did well last season against Wales and Ireland, and then went on to have a great June series in Argentina, something we didn’t have. After that, who knows what will happen?”

Bon courage, Marc. You’ll need it.