French duo blast Irish ref over handling of Twickers clash
Lievremont conceded England had been the better side and deserved their RBS 6 Nations victory, but suggested Clancy was more lenient on Martin Johnson’s team.
Asked to comment on the penalties France conceded at the scrum and breakdown, Lievremont said: “You’ll have to ask George Clancy because I didn’t understand any of them.”
Lievremont was angered that Nick Easter escaped a yellow card when he was penalised for hands in the ruck under England’s posts when France were building up a head of steam in the first half. Yachvili slotted the penalty but Lievremont said: “I have to ask myself what would have been the referee’s decision if a French player had killed the ball in a ruck five metres away from the posts?”
Yachvili, the former Gloucester scrum-half, was more strident in his criticism of Clancy.
“I don’t want to say it was a home-town referee, but it was almost like that,” he said.
England did not recognise the French complaints over Clancy’s handling of the ferocious scrum battle.
The Irish official took charge of England’s defeat to South Africa in the autumn and penalised the home pack repeatedly for an early engagement.
Yesterday, hooker Dylan Hartley could be heard reminding his pack to be “squeaky clean” and not go early.
Lievremont had created headlines in the build-up to the game by stating, with tongue in cheek, his dislike for ‘insular’ England.
The former France flanker, who is reading Winston Churchill’s autobiography, also expressed his respect for the way England are playing.
And he reiterated that Saturday’s win saw England take a giant step towards their first Grand Slam since 2003.
“I said it before the game and I say it again now, I think England are better than us at the moment. We’re very fragile,” said Lievremont, who guided France to the title in 2010.
“They are the best team in the northern hemisphere and now they have won, the path to the Grand Slam is wide open.
“England were fitter than us. They are a very good team, but they only won 17-9 and still have a step to go to improve their rugby.”
Veteran out half Jonny Wilkinson believes England are beginning to show the hallmarks of the team that conquered the world in 2003. The last time England were unbeaten three games into the championship was in 2003 — and Wilkinson senses a similar momentum building in the squad.
“What we are doing here is based on good values and a good foundation and that does remind me of 2003,” Wilkinson said. “Not in a romantic ‘we are in exactly the same place’ way. This is a different environment because rugby has moved on. In rugby you can’t just build a team straight away. You build a spirit, you build that togetherness, you build understanding and you build momentum.
“In 2003 something very, very solid was put in place and time was taken through attention to detail to develop it, to stick with it, to give guys an opportunity and continue to move on.
“This team has done a lot of learning along the way. You can gather momentum, whether you are winning or not, and it can have a snowball effect. Each game we have played so far in the Six Nations and in the autumn has called upon something different from the team,” he said.
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