France 6 Nations Squad

Today we were greeted with and treated to the now unfamiliar sight of a French squad which appears, by and large, to be made up of the best players in France.

After years of tinkering and mad left-field selections from mad moustachioed Monsieur Lièvremont, Philippe Saint-Andre has reverted to most of the players that should have been involved all along.

Having said that, Florian Fritz will feel hard done by after his exclusion in favour of Toulousain club mate Yann David. More so, former captain Lionel Nallet has been left out in favour of Julien Pierre who is surely not as good as Nallet whose physicality and mobility are as good as they have been in recent times. There is little doubt that his influence in France pulling themselves together and reaching the World Cup final was significant.

The front row looks as solid as ever and Barcella should return to his position as the best scrummager in Europe after a lengthy lay-off.

The second row could be all Toulouse if Yoann Maestri makes his debut alongside Romain Millo-Chluski, though Pape looks certain to keep his place.

 The back row is as dynamic as possible. Captain fantastic, monsieur 38, Dusautoir will be inked in. The other flank could be Yannick Nyanga's, he who last played in the 2007 World Cup, or Fulgence Ouedraogo. Both offer something different to Julien Bonnaire and PSA may opt for the Clermont man's experience and line out skill. With either Harinordoquy or Louis Picamoles at no. 8, the back row should dominate this 6 Nations.

Morgan Parra and Dimitri Yachvili once again share the 9 shirt, no surprises there. More interestingly, Lionel Beauxis returns from the international wilderness. His move to Toulouse has revitalised this enigmatic fly-half (this always seems to happen at Toulouse, doesn't it) after too many years in a limp Stade Francais team. 

Rising star Wesley Fofana is the bolter of the centres though Mermoz and Rougerie will probably start. Julien Malzieu deserves his recall after Lievremont's folly. The Toulouse trio of Clerc, Medard and the recalled Poitrenaud will surely sparkle at some point.

 A squad of 30 with 12 Toulousains and 7 Clermontois is smart selecting from Saint-Andre who promises to bring together the French style that he exhibited so well with some added Anglo-Saxon pragmatism. Though I see no Grand Slam this year, France are my pick for the 6 Nations. Their match away to Wales at the Millennium looks set to be the defining match of the tournament.

'Tops et Flops'

Being back in the French Alps this week has allowed me, once again, to immerse myself in all the colour and pageantry of the Top 14. As always, the ever faithful yellow pages of the Midi Olympique are my way in.

The first edition of 2012 ran a section on the 'Tops' and 'Flops' of the recruitment process so central to success in this league. The 'Tops' included such well-known names as Luke McAlister, Steffon Armitage and Felipe Contepomi.

The 'Flops', perhaps unsurprisingly, have even more celebrated names. This is the depressing side of Top 14 rugby. For every 'galactico' who lights up the league (or shores up a scrum), there are those who are simply too old, lack the motivation or respect that their hefty pay cheque deserves or simply fail to deal with the lifestyle change or uprooting of family. Two All Blacks top the list: Byron Kelleher, such a hero in Toulouse the past two years, has struggled at Stade Francais and Joe Rokocoko similarly at Bayonne. Then, depressingly, Max Evans, comes in at no. 3. While the inexperience of his fellow backs is noted, he has yet to score in a side 4th in the league. Cedric Héymans, Paul Warwick and rugby league convert Willie Mason are all 'Flops'.

It's not all doom and gloom, however, for Scots playing in France, even if the impact on the national side is zero. Scotland's former second rows Nathan Hines and Scott Murray were both singled out for special mention with Hines making the Top 14 team of the week.

Top 14 Round-Up

Toulouse, as ever, lead the Top 14 by 5 points from Clermont. Their recruitment policy has been outstanding with Beauxis and McAlister dominating every midfield (not to mention Fritz, Jauzion et. al.) with Fijian youngster Timoci Matanavou leading the try scoring league with 6. Clermont's recruitment has been equally effective if less headline making. Nathan Hines, Gerhard Vosloo and Benjamin Kayser are forming a formidable pack that Parra effortlessly controls. The top of the league, therefore, is actually quite boring compared to the rest. The Midi Olympique highlights 6 teams that are be owing separated from the rest without the resources (financial or otherwise) to suggest they will catch up. They are: Bordeaux, Perpignan, Brive, Bayonne, Lyon and Biarritz - who lie bottom and fighting for their existence at the top table. The mighty have indeed fallen. It's not all doom and gloom, however, as smaller clubs like Agen seem to be holding their own with the bigger spenders and this is absolutely welcomed.

Professionals Playing in the Park: Some Thoughts

Some players feel stifled by the atmosphere of professional rugby – for many, it erodes the joy they took from the game as a youngster. They understand how lucky they are, of course, but relative to how they used to enjoy the game, it holds little for them. This doesn’t create good rugby players.

The answer lies in marrying the two: by reducing the amount rugby is a job and increasing the creative nature of rugby. We need to reject all the clichés of professionalism such as mentally striving for constant improvement, the body being a temple and approaching each session as another opportunity to improve and all the claptrap that follows the words, ‘you’re a professional’. All that has to be thrown off. Changes in mood and just how we feel day to day are natural and should be bowed to, not ploughed through. If you assume that pressure (I mean these external pressures – I’m all in favour of training under pressure) is bad for performance then performance (quality of play) can only be improved by throwing off those pressures mentioned above.

I’m not saying that pressure in competition isn’t sometimes healthy, of course we have to train under pressure –that’s quite different. The route to destruction is paved with those who allowed the daily pressures of professional sport to wear them down. Maybe I’m wrong, and these people are Olympic Gold Medal winners. But for me, rugby is a game, thinking of it as anything else simply invites these pressures that, for me, are nothing but self-destructive. That doesn’t mean I approach training with a wilful abandon that leads to me taking the piss or not caring when I throw a shit pass – there is something inside the vast majority of players at all levels that prevents that attitude. However, to a certain extent, a poor pass is not the end of the world, especially in training, and it is day-to-day training I’m talking about. It’s not about accepting sloppiness, that’s unacceptable, it’s about proportion.

Only when the idea of the professional’s existence being a rugby machine whose raison d’etre is to produce tackles, passes and kicks interspersed with squats and deadlifts is thrown off can creativity be allowed in.

Let us return to rugby in the park. Rugby prides itself on its cerebral element but surely we play best when it’s instinctive. So it was when we were young, we didn’t think about it. And when it was something we did 3 or 4 times a week we probably didn’t think about it, or if we did it was a case of enjoying the cerebral issues the game presents, but crucially as an antidote to the grind of daily life. Rugby was a glorious escape! When rugby becomes the norm, it becomes mundane and this becomes very difficult to reverse. So the challenge remains of trying to turn everyday training into a game in the park, improving players by becoming more instinctive, to allow us this side of us out. Surely this is the aim if that’s how we want to play on a Saturday afternoon.

I think some professional structures are damaging to players and performance. Professionalism has brought us the opportunity to train more, but that must not be abused. We have to train smart. It has to remain fun, like a match. If the phrase, ‘play as we train, train as we play’ is something to live by, and it should be, then let’s train instinctively and not by numbers.

We surely have to recognise what sport is to our psyche: a game with direct associations with childhood. What I earlier called the clichés of professionalism should be forgotten, for they are detrimental to our performance on a Saturday afternoon. As an approach, it isn’t weak, it isn’t wishy-washy and it doesn’t sacrifice hard work as a central tenet. It prioritises empowering players with the freedom (and responsibility) to play and training them in such a way that their brains and movements become more, not less, instinctive.

Top 14 Round-Up: Super Saturday!

If Sky Sports ever got hold of the rights to show French Top 14 rugby, and by God that’s one of my dreams in life, today would be SUPER SATURDAY. In the South, it’s the two fattest wallets in world rugby as Toulon travel inland to Toulouse. In Paris, at the Stade de France, Stade Francais Paris host to Racing Métro 92.

If there was ever a day that summed up the glorious excess of this league, today is that day. There are stars galore. In Paris, Juan Martin Hernandez and Felipe Contepomi return to the site of their greatest triumph, on the pitch that was theirs during the 2007 RWC. In Toulouse, it’s Wilkinson and Giteau against Beauxis and McAlister, who moves from 10 to 12 to accommodate the stocky Frenchman. The former All Black has been the best back in the league so far this season.

Racing president Jacky Lorenzetti was kicking up a fuss this week when his Stade counterpart said they would be wearing their home shirts, pink and white. Apparently this means that Racing won’t be able to wear their ciel et blanc shirts. “This was supposed to be a derby of great tradition, but sadly we are not allowed to wear our blue and white. I don’t see the problem with pink and white against blue and white...”

Stade were in a lot of financial difficulty last year and long time President, and fan of pink, Max Guazzini handed over the reins to Thomas Savare. Guazzini gave an interview last year where he acknowledged that he would never host Racing at the Stade de France as that would be an admission that they had returned to the big time. He preferred to bring Toulouse, Toulon and Clermont to the big stadium. So today is a big day for Racing. They’ll remember last year when they themselves hosted Toulouse at the Stade and put 40 points on the Toulousains. Inevitably, there will be pink flags, some sort of pre-match show and fireworks.

Back on the south coast, a world away from the Parisian bitching, change is afoot at Toulon. Last year they flattered to deceive, a shining example of a team of stars failing to gel. This year looks like it may be different. With Philippe Saint-Andre now head coach of the national team, Bernard Laporte, former national coach himself (and Sarko’s Minister for Sport...or something like that) has taken over the reins – reins held very tightly indeed by the money man Mourad Boudjellal. Toulouse should win, they just have too much class. 

Oh to be in Toulouse on a day like this. I’ve never been, so I can’t really talk, but there must be few towns on match day that beat with such a rugby pulse. Limerick, Perpignan, perhaps Toulon itself.

That’s all the razzmatazz stuff out the way, now we can focus on the proper rugby. Tough fixtures indeed in the Pro D2, the pick of which is Albi vs. Mont-de-Marsan. Waisale Serevi used to play for Mont-de-Marsan, and now William Ryder, who tore up the IRB 7s circuit for a couple of years in such style that led to him becoming the great pretender to Serevi’s crown, is now playing there himself. He is no doubt earning a lot of money, but it seems a shame that he has fallen off the world stage. The lot of the 7s specialist: 7s stardom travelling the circuit for little money or solid XVs rugby at a lower level.

It’s a fairly dull student Saturday in Exeter, with sleepy stereotypical pajama-ed students shuffling down to brunch with the prospect of essays awaiting them all afternoon. Me? I’ll be in Paris, cheering on Racing. Or maybe I’ll pop down to Toulouse. Wherever this afternoon’s rugby takes me, I’ll always have one eye on chilly Bourgoin as they welcome Beziers to their Alpine fortress. Why? I'll tell you why: because there is just as much joy to be found in that sort of gritty encounter as there is at the Stade de France. And only in France can you enjoy both.

Handling vs. Weights: Let Scotland Progress

Sir Ian McGeechan writes in his book ‘Lion Man’ that rugby will only start to improve in our country if children play more sports to an older age. This multiple sport culture is ingrained in Australian society, with teenagers often playing 3 matches a week, of Union, League and footy. Of course, more diversity is needed that forms of the same game, but the point is valid. Rugby is a composite sport: you need the hand-to-hand combat skills of a wrestler, the agility of a squash player, the catching skills of a handballer, the kicking skills of a footballer and the speed and power of a 60m sprinter.

But in Scotland, the Union get involved in the development of young players so early that players are often forced to choose between sports. Pre-season now wipes out the cricket season and it takes a lot for an amateur player to fit in squash matches mid-week on top of schoolwork. Yet we are told that players need to begin weight training regimes at the age of 16 if they are to fulfil their potential. But why the need to start so young? Why should a player be conditioned so that they are able to play professional rugby at the age of 20, if it’s to the detriment of their overall skills. Why not take things slower. At the age of 16 we should be encouraging a multi-sport lifestyle. The place of the Union is not to be running weights sessions for 16 year olds. If anything, they should be running extra handling sessions so our international players end up able to score tries and exploit and recognise space and kicking sessions for kickers and throwing sessions for throwers.

Their supposed concern for the shape and size of 16 year olds should give way to a programme of injury prevention. If weights are to be begun much later, and I agree that weights are an inevitable part of the modern game, then growing bodies should be assessed and irregularities ironed out. I was stuck straight on a generic weights programme, with no regard given to the lack of flexibility in my hamstrings or my weak back.

And when we do begin conditioning players, how about making them athletic and powerful, not simply big and stodgy. Japan put our under 20 A team to the sword in April and the difference in the shape and size of each team was commented on by many spectators. The Japanese were probably lighter, but noticeably faster across the team and more athletic and rangy too.

Lifting weights is easy, any mug can do it. It involves repeating a motion ad nauseum and it does not need years of training. Drifting off a pass into space outside a defender and quickly moving the ball on is not easy, and these are the skills that must be ingrained, not the up down push in the gym. Clean and jerks can be learned later, they are not as complex as weights coaches would have you believe.

What we can all learn from Fijians

If ever I am becoming frustrated in a rugby session with either my own performance or that of those around me, or a coach, I imagine what a Fijian would do in such a situation. That is, very little. They would be chilled.

Whenever you watch players like Sireli Bobo, Rupeni Caucaunibuca, Vilimoni Delasau, Sireli Naqelevuki and the young pretender Vireimi Vakatawa, it’s a real treat.

It’s uninhibited, unprescribed, and open to your own expression. It’s an almighty lesson to all of us when worrying about learning the playbook. It isn’t individualistic, far from it. It relies on everyone being there to support the one man breakout and that cannot function if only one player buys into that (unless of course they go on to score themselves – a distinct possibility). It isn’t positional – why shouldn’t a second row be the one to break out? Who says the main job of a winger is to chase kicks? And whose idea was it to kick at all?