Straight Jacketing Mad Marc Lievremont

Many fans bemoan the fact that coaches do not select "form" players. Personally I think only a foolish coach picks on form alone. From the remarks about his players, rafts of wholescale changes, knee jerk reactions and the scapegoating process, French coach Marc Lievremont is one of the only top level coaches I know of who seems to react so heavily to form. This week - with still 4 months until the World Cup kicks off including a summer series of test matches - France effectively named their World Cup panel. 32 players were named and 30 will be chosen. In true Mad Marc fashion it filled plenty of column space. Yannick Jauzion, Sébastian Chabl and Clément Poitrenaud were the biggest names who failed to make the cut. Between them the trio have around 180 French caps and nearly all of them have been cornerstones of the French side for the last decade. However strange the selections may be, I think in a way it is beneficial that Lievremont has nailed his colours to the mast.

With only 2 of the 32 losing out, the squad has been essentially named and will only be altered in the event of injury. The last thing the French need is wholescale changes to be made weeks before the World Cup. Let's be honest; with Lievremont in charge it's something that could happen. By the time the World Cup rolls around this controversy will be but a memory. Its not something other teams would or probably should do but France needed this in my opinion. England, the only other nation I would say has the same scope of choice as the French, use their Elite Player Squad to ensure their large playing pool does not mean 15 new faces every week. With the French World Cup squad now all but selected, we could see a very settled Les Bleus team turn up. 4 months of squad preparation, 4 months without the players and fans worrying about who Lievremont will be selecting in the next game and 4 months to tailor a winning strategy around this team.

Injury will be a concern and the only thing I feel is that at centre and prop there have been gambles made. Two injured loose heads have been selected. That is quite a gamble. Fabian Barcella is suffering from a ruptured achilles tendon injury while Thomas Domingo has a knee injury. At centre there are long term injuries to Rougerie and Mérmoz. But there is plenty of preparation time and it is vital these guys are fully fit for the double header against Ireland this summer.

The breakdown of the 32 is as follows. 6 Props, 2 Hookers, 4 Second Rows, 6 Backrows, 2 Scrumhalves, 2 Flyhalves, 4 Centres, 4 Wingers and 2 Fullbacks. Although there are a number of very versatile players such as Harinordoquy and Traille the lack of cover in specialist positions such as hooker and scrumhalf is noticeable. There is an uncapped player in the form of number 8 Raphaël Lakafia. However his inexperience, lack of versatility and the presence of two other number 8's suggests that the Biarritz backrow is unlikely to make the final cut. Similarly I don't see Yoann Huget going either. With bundles of experienced and proven options on the wing Huget looks set to miss out despite having quite a good year for Bayonne with 12 tries to his name.

As I say the squad isn't without controversy but that will be soon forgotten. The important thing is that Lievremont has nailed his colours to the mast and straightjacketed himself against the knee jerk reactions that have dominated his stint as head coach. There is a core of hardened experienced forwards like Servat, Mas, Nallet, Dusatoir and Harinordoquy while in the backs the is a bit more wiggle room with exciting players getting their chance. They must hope that the injured contingent pull through but overall it seems to me that naming the squad so early is a calculated gamble by the French camp.

That's two teams plus 2 props. If as you say two of them are injured then it's already down to 30.

There is a fine line between genius and insanity. NZ must be bricking it.

I can't think of any occasion when a major team hasn't sent 3 hookers and 3 half-backs. Unless a couple of players are heading downunder as tourists just in case . From memory there used to be a rule that any team who replaced a player couldn't use the replacement in a match until 48 hours after calling for a replacement in order to counter the travel distance advantage of some countries

So where do you make up the cover from? Take 3 second rows and rely on cover from
The back row. Similarly centres and fullbacks?

Generally (and no I haven't bothered checking ) teams try to take a player who can play lock/blindside, and go 1 short in the three quarters

What do people make about naming such a closed squad so early?

I think it is a bit crazy to be honest, but par for the course with Mad Marc. I wouldn't be surprised at all if on the day that he has to name his official 30 man squad, there are 10-15 players in it who weren't in this 32!

LDCPete wrote:I wouldn't be surprised at all if on the day that he has to name his official 30 man squad, there are 10-15 players in it who weren't in this 32!

Thats what I'm thinking too and it would totally defeat the purpse. He's not a touch on Laporte.

He has only named 2 hookers hasn't he? I cannot imagine that any country will go to the World Cup with only 2 players who can play hooker in their squad.

I know its madness. To be honest I'm backing them to have a good World Cup in spite of everything.

LDCPete wrote:He has only named 2 hookers hasn't he? I cannot imagine that any country will go to the World Cup with only 2 players who can play hooker in their squad.

They can bring in replacements for injured players though can't they? It's not like if both hookers pick up a knock the All Blacks would promote their open side to hooker? Most hookers can't actually hook or throw in any more anyway!

Oi hobo are you tweeting this one to the French camp?

:run1:

So you go with 2 hookers and one gets injured in the warm up and cannot play. Bit late to send for a replacement for that game.

i do take your point that there is not a lot of actual hooking goes on these days.

Glas a du wrote:

LDCPete wrote:He has only named 2 hookers hasn't he? I cannot imagine that any country will go to the World Cup with only 2 players who can play hooker in their squad.

They can bring in replacements for injured players though can't they? It's not like if both hookers pick up a knock the All Blacks would promote their open side to hooker? Most hookers can't actually hook or throw in any more anyway!

The issue is if one gets injured 24 hours before a game, it's a 28 hour flight after all, so that would mean no bench cover. Also, once you call up a replacement the replacee is out for the tournament - much safer to have 3 so you can rest someone with a niggle and have them back next match. That's why most teams include 3 people who can play hooker, half back and 1st 5/8 (though in the backs some of those players can usually cover multiple spots).

You had to go and introduce logic didn't you. That just not fair

Glas a du wrote:You had to go and introduce logic didn't you. That just not fair

I know Glas, but it's just that my logic is a bit better than my legalese

can anyone please let me know when was the last time a team actually used his 3rd hooker during a RWC?
I know there is always a risk of injury but dont think it's the main problem of this squad...
as for naming this tentative squad sp early ,its probably about the only good initiative ML had: at least some of the players (those not in playoffs) might get some time together to improve their teamplaying skills (mainly for the backs that have been hopeless in attack during the 6N) - there are so many injured in this list that it does not really matter much: come end august you are almost certain to see 4/5 new names.