What’s that you hear? A thirty-footed blue monster rumbling down the rugby world, with a ferocious grin, silky hands and a Gargantuan appetite?
After a decade of mediocrity, losing limply to almost every opponent regardless of their quality, France seem back on track to be a serious contender, so let’s try to look at what has made a difference.
As much as it pains me to say, bloody Bernard Laporte played a major part in it, either by implementing what was already in place, or by some radical changes.
As soon as he was elected in December 2016, he cancelled the construction of the giant stadium the FFR did not have the means to build anyway, fired Novès under a false – and ultimately costly – pretext in favour of Galthié, snatched the organisation of the 2023 RWC from South Africa, and signed a new five-year agreement between the professional clubs (LNR) and the federation (FFR), to be revised in … 2023. The FFR also reorganized the academies and the training of the coaches. And they implemented the JIFF project, which started in 2010.
Let’s start from the top. The RWC in France in 2023 means enough is enough: can’t repeat the disastrous 2015 or 2019, especially at home. So even the constantly infighting Gauls had to agree on some basics.
No more giant stadium means healthier finances. Some of that goes to pay Novès after a court found that he was unfairly fired. The rest goes mostly to the clubs, either as a result of the JIFF policy or the new convention.
JIFF basically means France-qualified. It actually stands for : Jeunes issus des filières de formation. Either the youngsters have spent three years in FFR-endorsed academies, or they’ve been registered players with the FFR for at least five years before they turn 23. Nationality does not matter. Professional clubs from both T-14 and ProD2 must play with a minimum number of JIFF players; it has gone from twelve in 2011 to seventeen now.
Stick: Points can be deducted if the clubs use fewer (hasn’t happened yet AFAIK).
Carrot: the clubs can get paid up to 300.000 euros if they achieve the minimum number required.
Two consequences: the mediocre JIFFs first got paid disproportionately high salaries, even on the bench, as they brought more money than say a Georgian or an old Kiwi. Secondly, the good ones got more game time, as there have been fewer imports since, including at key positions.
Most T-14 and ProD2 clubs now turn up with about 75% JIFFs in their squads, usually around seventeen players, the lowest being Toulon with 59% (which could be very costly in terms of relegation) and the maximum being Clermont with 80%.
(For more info, check out the very interesting site [only in French, I’m afraid] www.allrugby.com and look for “ stats Jiff”. The site covers many other subjects – a gold mine for TomP. See also: www.ffr.fr and look for “filière d’accession au haut niveau”.)
Now the agreement:
The clubs agreed to leave 42 players at Galthié’s disposal for the entire duration of the 6N, with only fourteen players released to their clubs a few days before the actual games. At least five clubs must provide one to three players, thus making sure most clubs are involved. During the fallow weeks, 23 players are ‘protected’ and not allowed to play with their clubs; the same applies to the autumn tests. In exchange, the clubs get serious money and also bonuses according to France’s results. Don’t ask me the exact amount, it’s classified.
So not only does Galthié have access to the best players available with time on his hands, but in the meantime – because the T-14 never stops, right? – the younger players get game time while the big boys are in camp.
Then we get a competent set of coaches.
Galthié, the brain. His pet subject and true area of expertise is how quickly a team goes from defence to attack and vice versa. He’s a rugby nerd.
Ibanez, man management, as FG is notoriously bad at it.
Labit (attack), Edwards (defence), Ghezal (lineout), Servat (scrum): the technicians know their stuff, as does Giroud, who’s in charge of the physical preparation.
Finally, France seem to have unearthed quite a few excellent players; some of them could arguably claim a spot in a world XV.
But there is also an unusual strength in depth. Why?
Because rugby is rapidly expanding, both geographically and, more importantly, socially.
There are 245 000 registered players in the country , +6% since before Covid. There are 239 rugby schools (from 6 to U14), including about 60 where historically rugby was not played (Normandy, Brittany, the North East). This is the end of the PE teacher or the well-meaning dad improvising as a coach: these schools have more professional coaches, trained by the FFR, who spot the better players and offer them study, coupled with rugby practice, in 25 high-quality schools (age 15 to 18), partially paid by the FFR. Again, in various parts of the country, including New Caledonia or inner cities around Paris.
There are 44 pro clubs – possibly more if you include faux amateurs all the way down to Fédérale 1, which is the fourth level – most of them with raucous crowds in quite often sold-out stadia.
There is also more exposure: all T-14 and ProD2 games are shown on Canal + (40 euros a month). That money is evenly distributed among the lower leagues.
Big cities (Lyon, Bordeaux, Paris, Montpellier, etc.) are quickly replacing the erstwhile bastions of rugby (50K-pop cities like Dax, Bayonne, Bourgoin, …), bringing in richer sponsors but also attracting – and this is the big novelty – kids from the inner cities, Blacks and Arabs who were only into football before. France has always had players from ex-colonies and from Caribbean islands, Bourgarel, Bennazzi, Blanco, Betsen etc., but they were only a few; nowadays, about a third of the France squad are the sons of recent immigrants. Their success story, through feeder clubs like Massy or Sarcelles (in the Paris area), in turn brings in new kids.
I’m not sure France will get a GS, though I expect them to win the 6N, and I’m not sure either that they’ll win the RWC next year (tough draw in particular), but I certainly expect them to finally remain among the top 3 teams for the years to come. Then of course, a new cycle will begin and the Gauls will to go back to their favorite sport: infighting.
As ably explained by Flair99.
Onna telly this week
Friday 4th March
| Ulster 48 – 12 Cardiff | 19:35 | RTÉ2 / BBC2 NI/Wales / Premier Sports 2 |
| Edinburgh 56 – 8 Connacht | 19:35 | TG4 / Premier Sports 1 |
| Harlequins 24 – 10 Newcastle | 19:45 | BT Sport 1 |
Saturday 5th March
| Treviso v Leinster | 12:55 | RTÉ2 / Premier Sports 2 |
| Saracens v Leicester | 15:00 | BT Sport 3 |
| Scarlets v Glasgow | 17:15 | Premier Sports 1 |
| Munster v Dragons | 17:15 | S4C / TG4 / Premier Sports 2 |
Sunday 6th March
| Ospreys v Zebre | 14:00 | Premier Sports 1 | ||
| Exeter v Sale | 15:00 | BT Sport 1 |
Thursday 10th March
| Wales v France (U20s) | 20:00 | BBC2 Wales / iPlayer |
Ovally Balls 
SBT – I was actually looking for the agreement that was – I read somewhere! – signed by NATO not to increase their eastward expansion, but ran across that instead.
I don’t think there’s any doubt that NATO was specifically created to deal with the former USSR, though?
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This is a good primer on Russia/Ukraine/Nato:
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Refit
Yer man: ‘If there was no written deal then it might as well have been discussed in the jakey over a line of coke’ (or summat close to that). Bit like the UK constitution, then? ;-)
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LonerBox does have a way with words sometimes.
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thaum, they didn’t sign anything. It was a misunderstanding by the Russians – in one version – and an empty promise from the Americans – in another version. Certainly not popular in Moscow and there were a lot of doubting Thomases in Washington and elsewhere as well. Thomas Friedman, Jacques Chirac, General Barry McCaffrey.
Vaclav Havel was mad for it from the European side.
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Fairy Nuff, TomP. That seems plausible, but you can still see why Russia would have been nervous and, as the article I linked to points out – why the expansion?
You can also ask about Putin – why now? Perhaps because he had succeeded with Trump and Brexit, and suddenly it all seemed to be going wrong, with Trump losing the election and Johnson looking to be deposed? I don’t want to overstate the importance of the UK in any of this, but London is certainly an important money-laundering site for Putin’s mates.
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Thaum, I read an analysis that supposedly came from inside the Kremlin, it stated that Putin has become increasingly isolated and surrounded by “Yes Men” in the last decade, telling him exactly what he wants to hear.
The Covid situation has left him even more so, the reason that he sits alone at the end of a huge table is that he is terrified of catching Covid.
He was told that Russian-speaking Ukrainians would be lining the streets, throwing roses in front of the tanks, this would be a calkwalk.
Obviously I have no way of knowing if this is really the case.
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calk walk would be a misspelling of where you go around filling in slight gaps in the skirting boards and doors
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Ticht – I’ve read much along the same lines, except for the Covid bit. War seems like a bit of a Covid-spreader to me, although he’s probs safe in his wee bubble.
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When I say ‘much’, I mean ‘a couple of things’ – ! ‘Much’ was meant to go with ‘along the same lines’….
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Not to be confused with a silicone walk which is when you relocate road safety equipment on the way home from the pub.
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CMW – speaking of silicones
https://i.postimg.cc/ZYQL3n1j/welly.webp
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hrmm, I don’t know why that didn’t post properly as an image
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Ticht – because .webp is not recognised by WordPress.
CMW – Silicone walk?
With your silicone hump and your ten-inch stump […]
Crawling down the alley on your hands and knee […]
Sashay on the broadwalk, scurry to the ditch….
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test
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Ah, there you are, Welly
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Refit, that’s a good primer
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@Thaum – Beware of the silicone seal ants.
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“that’s a good primer”
Will hopefully reduce the need for calk walks down the line.
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@Thaum – Can you send me an email to reply to with this ATL that I haven’t written yet.
Bow wow Woof woof Grrrrrrr.
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Clyde’s gone barking?
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“Bow wow Woof woof Grrrrrrr.”
Our 13 year old dog shouts this at the front door most mornings at around five o’clock.
It’s the foxes who live over in the huge grave yard just over the way that cause it, they come looking for a snack when there are fewer people around.
I really like the foxes, they come up very close when the dog isn’t with me.
I never have any spare bits of chicken in my pockets unfortunately, it’s not something I carry around in the hope of meeting foxes at night.
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“Shackleton’s ship Endurance has been found, 107 years after it sunk in the Weddell Sea in the Southern Ocean”
I expect it was found by a bunch of primary school children inspired by the current curriculum.
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“It’s the foxes who live over in the huge grave yard just over the way that cause it, they come looking for a snack when there are fewer people around.”
I guess cremation’s the thing these days.
We get foxes from the stray that the houses over the road back on to. I’m a big fan too and while you can get pretty close sometimes they can also disappear in the blink of an eye.
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Lads, it’s fine, the ABs took down that tweet and promised to ‘Do better’.
As you were.
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Predictions for the weekend (or, what I want to happen):
Wales > France by 10
England > Ireland by 10
Italy > Scotland by 10
Am prepared to be wrong (disappointed).
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“I guess cremation’s the thing these days.”
Arf!
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“Am prepared to be wrong (disappointed).”
But how will your predictions fare against the ones I’ve got for you from The Middle One, that’s the question…
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@Thaum – you have an email, hope it’s OK, let me know if I need to do anything else.
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Good video by Squidge, particularly England’s clever lineout tactics. He spots the “unstructured, positionless” attack England are going for but once again (like when he was banging on about George Ford) he misses the fact it’s basically a RL approach.
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Cmw – I’m pretty sure they’ll be amazing actually.
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Ernest Bevin and NATO founding:
https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/one-mans-vision-ernest-bevin-creation-nato/
Perhaps we forget how exhausted and fearful Europe was in the immediate post-war period.
Anyway, the founding of NATO led to the signing of the Warsaw Pact and the Cold War.
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Six changes to YOUR Ireland team for the Tryst at Twickers on Saturday!
https://www.irishrugby.ie/2022/03/10/ireland-team-named-for-twickenham-showdown
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Bollocks! Can’t remember what I’m supposed to do to get it to show the damned side.
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Anyway, looks weak.
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Not as weak as the team in white though.
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From the Graun:
Georgia seal Rugby World Cup spot after Russia games scrapped
Georgia have officially qualified for the 2023 Rugby World Cup as a result of World Rugby’s decision to suspend Russia and Belarus from all cross-border competition.
That decision was announced on 1 March, but a tournament board meeting on Thursday confirmed that Russia’s remaining qualifiers would be scrapped with Georgia, Netherlands and Portugal awarded four points as the nominal winners.
That means Georgia, who were firmly on course to qualify regardless, are now assured of a top-two finish in the qualification standings. They are almost certain to finish top and join Wales, Australia and Fiji in Pool C, with Spain, Portugal and Romania in contention for second place.
They were on track anyway, but it’s still nice to know.
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5 world cups in a row we’ve had Fiji, 4 out of 5 with Australia and now Georgia in a 2019 repeat.
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Best news site in the world:
https://www.bazake.co.uk/could-this-man-be-the-new-captain-tom
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Meanwhile, a cheap trick to show those Russkies:
Councillors pass motion to change name of Russian Embassy location to Independent Ukraine Road
https://www.thejournal.ie/russian-embassy-orwell-road-independent-ukraine-road-5706473-Mar2022/
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Here they be:
Scotland team to play Italy
Stuart Hogg (capt); Darcy Graham, Chris Harris, Sam Johnson, Kyle Steyn; Finn Russell, Ali Price; Matt Fagerson, Hamish Watson, Rory Darge; Grant Gilchrist, Sam Skinner; Zander Fagerson, George Turner, Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: Stuart McInally, Allan Dell, WP Nel, Jamie Hodgson, Magnus Bradbury, Ben Vellacott, Adam Hastings, Sione Tuipulotu
Italy team to play Scotland
Edoardo Padovani; Pierre Bruno, Juan Ignacio Brex, Leonardo Marin, Montanna Ioane; Paolo Garbisi, Callum Braley; Danilo Fischetti, Giacomo Nicotera, Pietro Ceccarelli; Niccolò Cannone, Federico Ruzza; Giovanni Pettinelli, Michele Lamaro (capt), Toa Halafihi
Replacements: Luca Bigi, Ivan Nemer, Giosuè Zilocchi, David Sisi, Manuel Zuliani, Alessandro Fusco, Marco Zanon, Ange Capuozzo
Scotland by 28.
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@tomp
Oh dear
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Well, Captain Tom got a nice holiday out of it. Unfortunately, he contracted Covid either on the holiday or soon afterwards and that killed him but he had his family around him.
This is well worth a listen: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/left-over-episode-51-tomorrow-will-be-a-good-grift/id1552478326?i=1000551494639
We speak to the bravest man we know, Jonny, aka sensiblehuman96, a titan of British Twitter who flipped the lid on an infamous British crime syndicate that exploited the labour of the beloved Captain Tom Moore: his family.
Sexton back – no surprise, Keenan, Aki back again no surprise. Interesting is keeping the same back row as vs Italy – no return for Conan despite the fact that his performance last year vs England pretty much sent him to SA with Lions
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Rory O’Loughlin and Jack Dunne moving from Leinster to Exeter – are they any good?
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O’Laughlin’s decent. A very steady player, should be a good addition to Exeter. Played a lot for Leinster but never really breaking the starting positions in a first-choice side.
Dunne was already going, no?
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Oh I had forgotten that Wales v France U20s is on tonight 8pm UK time.
Bonus.
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