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| FRENCH RUGBY |
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Le Rugby FrançaisFor many Australians, France has long been considered an international rugby easybeat.
This perception could not be more inaccurate, for although France has never won a World Cup, they have consistently performed well on rugby’s biggest stage.
France has appeared in two finals, 1987 and 1999 and contested semi finals on two occasions, 1995 and most recently 2003.
In fact, on all four occasions France has suffered defeat at the hands of the eventual winner of the coveted Cup. This consistent record must surely hold them among the most highly regarded of rugby playing nations.
This comes as no surprise to anyone that has witnessed rugby first hand in the hexagon. The popularity of Rugby à 15 in France is phenomenal, particularly in the south, where it more than holds its own against the round ball game.
Toulouse is the stronghold of Rugby in France and their team, Stade Toulousain, regularly performs very well in the European Heineken Cup. In fact, they are the current holders. While rugby culture is rich in the south of France, it is in the south west where it is a religion.
The national competition, le top 14 (formerly le top 16), boasts 14 teams, split into two pools of seven that play home and away games before going into either a potential premiership winning pool or a relegation pool. Nine of the fourteen teams are from the south west. The correlation of cassoulet consumption and rugby prowess is evidently high.
French rugby fans are ardent supporters of running rugby. They love to see and talk about French flair, and will go to great lengths to explain why only they can produce it. A sweeping backline movement that results in great try from a southern hemisphere team will be written of by the French as structured or manufactured.
A similar try to quelqu’un en bleu will bring the house down and have the crowd buzzing with talk of du rugby champagne or French flair. That said, if France kicks its way to un victoire courtesy of drop goals and penalties the fan explains the win as correct. The opposition’s spoiling tactics, while preventing France from playing their natural game, was duly defeated by good refereeing and precision kicking.
They do miss the past though, the good old days when spoiling tactics could be prevented by biting, squirreling and gouging. These acts, like Roquefort and Crème Brulée, are French specialities.
While talk of France being a rugby minnow is certainly unjust, their reputation for foul play is warranted. Anyone who witnessed their captain, Fabien Pelouse, take a cheap shot at Brendan Cannon in this year’s match will know what I’m talking about. As professionalism is relatively new to the game in France, they are at a point where video policing of games and judicial procedures is where it was 15 years ago in Australia.
For many, the mentality of “what goes on the field stays on the field” still reigns. Coaches who grew up playing in the violent past of rugby instil a belief in the benefits of intimidation in many of the modern players. While the discipline of the French players is improving markedly, some ground remains to be made up.
Christophe Dominichi’s attempted tackle that nearly broke the legs of Jason Robertson in the France-England World Cup semi-final last year did the cause little favour. One suspects he was trying to tap into Zidane’s fan base. 
France has produced some memorable players in recent decades. Serge Blanco must surely stand out of this select group as the French King of rugby. He was an elusive and exciting free running fullback who single handedly sunk Aussie hopes in the 1987 World Cup with a try in the corner at the death of a tight semi-final.
He twice took the Grand Slam with France in the five nations. He played with Biarritz Olympique in the French national championship and was one of those unfortunate players who, despite his individual achievements and international team glories, never experienced a club premiership.
Since retirement he has held the presidency of his beloved BO and is now president of the national rugby union. He also runs a very successful clothing line that carries his name.
Fabien Galthié is another great French player. He was the leading half back of his generation and had a formidable artillery of skills. Sublime passing, astute kicking, excellent vision, a strong running game, reliable defence and great leadership qualities were all hallmarks of his game.
Galthié lifted the national championship trophy with Colomieres in 2000 and the following year headed north to Stade Francais in Paris. Success at his new club wasn’t long in waiting. 
Stade Francais tasted national and European glory under Galthié’s inspired leadership. At the same time, the winning combination of coach (Laporte) and captain made the dream a reality when they took out the six nations in 2002. They achieved the feat again, this time undefeated in 2004. Galthié retired after the 2004 season and is now coaching Stade Francais.
Olivier Merle was a big man, almost double the size of an average human. His alias, l’homme et demi is testimony to this. He made the transition from athletics to rugby very smoothly and quite late in life. He played a major role in the 1995 World Cup, where France bowed out in the semi finals.
While talk by the Kiwis of foul play in the kitchen prior to their final against South Africa is commonplace, similar claims of injustice are held by the French. The pitch on which they contested the semi was considered far too wet to hold a match on.
The effectiveness of their running game was muted by the water logged track. For l’homme et demi it wasn’t so much a case of being a fish out of water, moreover a whale in water. After rugby, l’homme et demi had further time under the spotlight when he featured in the French box office hit Asterix et Cleopatra starring Monica Bellucci and Gerard Depardieu.
France’s current coach is certainly un entraineur de la nouvel generation. If you were to cross Tommy Radonikis with Allan Jones then your result may well resemble Monsieur Laporte. Many claim that Alan Jones sounds like he just swallowed a thesaurus and it could be said that Bernard suffered a similar fate.
He was a player of some note before turning his hand to coaching. His rise to coaching notoriety has had all the swiftness of a Amelie Mauresmo backhand. He took control of Stade Francais in 1997 and immediately won the Third division title.
Strong start.
In season two, his chargers took out Pro D2 (second division). Unbelievable. His third season saw his side elevated into the elite division, le Top 16. Here they completed the hat-trick. National champions. In three seasons he had taken Stade Francais from 3rd division chumps to 1st division champions.
A truly remarkable achievement. His appointment to the national job in late 1999 came as little surprise. In his six years in the national hotseat, he has twice won the six nations and was bitterly disappointed with the semi defeat at the 2003 World Cup.
He and his players are very close knit and have vowed to provide the host nation with a repeat of France 98. This is a reference to when France hosted the soccer World Cup and got the cash.
If this happens, it won’t be Zinnedene Zidane’s image plastered all over the Arc de Triomph as was the case seven years ago. Rather, it will be the man who sports a very similar hairdo to Zidane. Bernard Laporte has done much to dispel the myth that rugby is a sport played by thugs and his post match dissertations have many reaching for dictionaries.
If he fulfils his dream and steers France to glory in 2007 on their own soil, one feels the job will be his for life, that is, Bernard will never be shown la porte.
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