Heineken Cup: 'Flop 14' -
The inquest begins after a miserable weekend for French
clubs
By Colin Spiro, 19 January
2009
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Stunned: Sergio Parisse
Photo: Michael Paler |
No
sooner had
Stade Francais crashed ignominiously
out of this year's Heineken Cup - 24 hours after
Toulouse's shock home defeat to Glasgow - than the inquests
began.
Midi-Olympique, the twice weekly French rugby paper,
labelled the country's premier league 'Flop 14', while daily
sports paper L'Equipe simply announced 'A real
failure'.
No-one,
it seems, plays the self-blame game quite like the French,
and it was akin to a sado-masochist's help group as coaches
and players confessed to their own inadequacies after their
weekend misery in the Heineken Cup.
"We have
perhaps been put in our place," said Stade Francais backs
coach Christophe Dominici after the Paris side slumped
inexplicably to the injury ravaged - and previously winless
- Llanelli Scarlets.
The
self-flagellation began in earnest with his admission that
the players - who failed so miserably on the pitch - should
not shoulder the burden of defeat on their own.
"I
include the staff in this defeat," said the former French
international. "The players were mediocre and us also. We
were badly prepared for this match and we have been over-run
in terms of rhythm and intensity, so we are very
disappointed," he added.
Ewen
McKenzie, the club's Australian head coach, was equally
forthright in his appraisal after the 31-17 trouncing.
"We
weren't good enough," he admitted. "We
weren't even in the same street."
He went
on: "I'm
very disappointed. I thought we were very soft at the start
of the game.
"In a big game we have come up short and we will have
to look at that to see the reasons why."
Toulouse
coach Guy Noves was also in confession mode after watching
his side's 15-match winning run destroyed at home by a
Glasgow team which, like the Scarlets, had failed to
register a single win in the competition so far this season.
"They deserved the win because they wanted it more. Maybe we
had our eyes on next week's game against Bath because it was
only in parts of the second half that we showed any hunger,"
he said.
"Glasgow
had proved in the past that they can be a dangerous side.
They almost won at Bath and they have given us problems in
Scotland. We now have a fight on our hands to make it into
the quarter-finals," he added.
At least
Toulouse are still in charge of their own destiny, even if
it is a perilous path they must now tread. But victory away
to pool leaders Bath at the weekend will ensure
qualification.
Stade Francais, meanwhile, are definitely out
- together with Castres, Biarritz and Montauban - while
Perpignan and Clermont are merely waiting for the
eliminator's guillotine to fall. Both theoretically have a
mathematical chance of progress, but their respective
equations to success would leave even Stephen Hawking
scratching his head at the implausibility of such an
outcome.
But it
took an anglicised Frenchman - Sale coach Philippe
Saint-Andre - to halt the wailing.
"There's
no need to ring the alarm bells," he told L'Equipe.
"Okay, we weren't expecting the Parisians to produce such a
bad performance against Llanelli but you must not rush into
too speedy a conclusion on the general health of French
rugby.
"After
all, Perpignan produced a quality match against Ospreys.
Clermont, who like us were in the 'Pool of Death', were
impressive against Montauban, and Biarritz won in Italy.
"As for
Toulouse, it was a glitch - it happens. After 15 games
without defeat Toulouse didn't prepare for the game as they
should have done. But no panic, there's not a malaise in
French rugby."
To
paraphrase then: Toulouse were arrogant, Stade Francais were
rubbish and Perpignan and Clermont have been unlucky. Or,
maybe not.
Saint-Andre said the relentless nature of Top 14, with it's
threat of relegation, was partly to blame. He cited the
Celtic League's lack of relegation as a crucial factor, one
which allowed clubs to rest players and rotate their squads
before big European games.
"As
you've seen from this weekend, they become increasingly
competitive as the season progresses because they benefit
from a system that prepares them for high-level games," he
reasoned.
Dominici, likewise, blamed the French league system. "The
Top 14 doesn't prepare for the Heineken Cup," he said.
All
valid points, but somewhat missing the essence of the debate
really. Stade Francais have been pretty ordinary this season
once their aura of invincibility was rudely crushed by an
emphatic "home" defeat by Toulouse at the Stade de France.
Perpignan and Clermont remain works in progress, while
Castres, Biarritz and Montauban are short of true class.
That
just leaves Toulouse as serious contenders - a fact borne
out by results so far this season, not just last weekend.
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