Lièvremont receives Lapasset backing
March 18 2008
French rugby chief Bernard Lapasset has defended the controversial selection policy of Les Bleus Head Coach Marc Lièvremont during the Six Nations Championship.
Lièvremont called up a total of 37 players, thirteen of whom were uncapped, during the tournament.
France finished third in the final table and many have accused Lièvremont of damaging the integrity of the Six Nations by constantly chopping and changing his team.
But Lapasset, the President of the French Rugby Federation, has rushed to defend Bernard Laporte's successor.
"The route we wanted to take was followed - to look at the maximum number of players possible," he said.
"We have sent out a strong message - if you are not at a leading club, you can still be picked for the France team. There is a real opening now.
"When Marc Lièvremont, (and fellow France coaches) Didier Retiere and Emile Ntamack go to a match, they are not just there to sit in the stands. They are following players and talking to coaches.
"We haven't sacrificed the Six Nations. We just didn't have enough time to prepare ourselves and hope to win it."
Meanwhile, Lièvremont has maintained his approach will pay off not only in the long term but also in the short term.
The teams who qualify for the semi-finals of this season's Top 14 championship - likely to be Toulouse, Clermont, Stade Français and Biarritz - will not release their players for France's tour to Australia in the summer.
Lièvremont will therefore have to rely on players from the lesser-known teams in France, something he has done during the Six Nations.
"It is true that we have gone down a different path but if we hadn't done it now, when could we have done it?" he said, speaking in L'Equipe.
"We haven't any friendly matches, so do we leave for Australia at the end of the season with players who do not have international experience?
"I am not even sure that if we had closed the squad off in the short term, we would have beaten the English (against whom France lost 24-13 in Paris) or been more competitive."