In Defence of French Rugby: Part 3

So French rugby and money have always been randy bedfellows. That leads on to our next contradiction. Why are the French so ‘amateur’ in the way they go about things, in their preparation. ‘Amateur’ is an interesting word, especially when used in connection with the French. Firstly, if a Frenchman uses the word amateur in his native tongue, he is a lover of something, probably rugby but quite possibly petanque or even the Paris metro. I like the idea of amateurs being lovers of what they do, and it raises some questions over professionals – cold-blooded mercenaries... The English language has warped the word so that amateur can be derogatory. When I say that the French are so ‘amateur’ in their approach, I mean they differ from the hyper-professionalism of the Anglo-Saxon in the rest of the rugby world.

On an individual level, the players seem to take their responsibilities less seriously. Smoking, culturally, is treated differently in France than the UK. That’s not news. But surely the sporting people, the athletes would be different? It seems not. Smoking, to a Frenchman, is an inalienable right, rugby player or otherwise, and it certainly doesn’t make my spin pass any worse or my tackling any weaker, they would argue. I am young and fit, let me enjoy my cigarettes, just as I enjoy my rugby. I overheard a conversation between two professionals:

“What are you doing tomorrow on your day off?”

“...smoking...”

The same goes for alcohol, and ending up unconscious face down on the Champs-Elysees during pre-season is merely a funny story to be regaled at training.

Increased wages doesn’t seem to lead to increased professionalism, and I think that is fantastically refreshing. We’ll see how this makes the players more relaxed and leads to better rugby for the player and the spectator.

There are also differences with how teams are run and trained. Defence is given the least amount of attention. Amateur second XVs training in deepest middle England will devote more time to defence and defensive systems than French professional sides. Astonishingly, the attitude seems to be thus: if everyone makes their tackles then we’ll be absolutely fine. There aren’t defence coaches, and there aren’t defence sessions. Again, refreshing. This doesn’t, however, lead to Super 15 style scores and leaky, boring to watch defence. Odd.

So what do they practise throughout the playing of France south of Bordeaux and Lyon? That can be answered in 3 words, and then some more. Pace, pace, pace. There are certain tenets of French rugby and they can be summarised thus: i) A ruck is a failure: the failure of the ball carrier to remain on his feet and the failure of the supporting players to assist the carrier; ii) The ball must never be slowed down, it must accelerate, and if you are going to slow it down then get out of the way; iii) Attacks must be structured as a rugby pitch is structured: longer and deeper than it is wide, but still use the full width of the pitch...

All really quite simple.

This all points to ‘French Flair’ that everyone loves to see. The dashing three-quarters breaking out and covering the ground like the wild horses of the Camargue, creating order out of chaos, and chaos out of order. In short, it is impossible to play against. Is this 15 man rugby union, the holy grail of every young idealistic coach?

No. It isn’t, and it is a myth to think that the French play 15 man rugby. So often it may appear like every player is involved in the sweeping movements but more often than not, they aren’t. There is a modern thought which has seen props being picked for their mobility and their ‘work around the park’. This has not reached France, and it has many barriers to overcome before it penetrates into the collective French rugby psyche. Props are designed to scrummage. “No no, props don’t need to be able to pass and catch, they must scrummage”. The ugly truth about the ‘Flair’ is revealed in the knotted faces of these gnarled Kings with the big pay cheques. It’s all about the scrum.

So many contradictions. The flair based on the scrummage (not so much a contradiction but the unfolding of a widely held belief), the money and the fags, the money and the defence.