Harinordoquy: Les Bleus ignored ‘lost’ Lievremont

THE worst kept secret from the Rugby World Cup has emerged after French number eight Imanol Harinordoquy admitted the players largely overlooked “lost” coach Marc Lievremont to reach the final.

France got off to a stuttering start in New Zealand, being thrashed by the All Blacks and losing to Tonga in the group phase before beating England and Wales and losing 8-7 to the host nation in the final.

“After the defeat against Tonga, I did not attach too much importance to what Marc said,” Harinordoquy told rugby biweekly Midi Olympique yesterday.

“It was our adventure. It was meant to be the nice experience of 30 men. We had to free ourselves from his supervision.”

Harinordoquy, who has earned 77 caps for France since 2002, said that coach Lievremont was “lost” and put too much pressure on his squad.

“He cast the stone atus too often. When something goes wrong, we’re all in the same boat. There are no good or bad guys,” he said.

Lievremont slammed a section of the squad as “spoiled brats” after they went out following their 9-8 victory over Wales in thesemi-final, although he later added he meant his remark to be affectionate.

“I felt he was lost,” said Harinordoquy. “I will not miss him.”

In 2007, the England players also rebelled against Brian Ashton to turn the situation around and reached the final after a lacklustre pool stage. France came really close to beating the All Blacks but Harinordoquy reckoned South African Craig Joubert’s refereeing played a major part in Les Bleus’s final defeat.

“He was only looking at us,” the Biarritz player said before also criticising New Zealand captain Richie McCaw.

“He played the whole match in our camp. He did a lot of [bad] things and nobody told him anything. Three minutes from the end, I saw him dive on the side of a ruck and he stayed there for ages.”