International: Lièvremont and Heymans vow to set the record
straight against Argentina
by Michel Dora 07 November 2008
The latest instalment of
the France-Argentina rivalry is coming to the boil nicely
with head coach Marc Lièvremont and Toulouse winger Cedric
Heymans both calling for ‘Les Bleus’ to adopt an aggressive
approach to Saturday’s evening clash in Marseille.
The Pumas have proved
something of a bogey team to France in recent years, winning
six of their last seven encounters, including both in last
year’s World Cup.
An underlying tension has
characterised many of those games and Lièvremont is clearly
preparing his team for another physical match.
“Rugby is a combat sport
and the rules allow players to hurt their opponents,” he
told reporters at the team’s training base in Paris.
“Our players are
strong-willed but they are not nasty whereas other teams
have forwards who push the rules to the limit.
“This statement could be
misinterpreted but people who know the game will understand
what I mean,” he added.
Lièvremont’s selection
policy was widely criticised last year when he used 53
players, including 25 debutants, in his first seven games in
charge, but the former Dax coach said the time for
experimentation had now ended.
Instead he plans to use a
tight nucleus of players this year, building on squad unity
and selection consistency as he tries to end a three-match
losing streak following defeats by Wales and Australia
(twice).
As such the staring XV to
take on Argentina has a familiar look about it with only
Toulouse’s 21-year-old full back Maxime Medard an unknown at
this level. Indeed, 11 of his squad for Marseille played
against Argentina in the last World Cup – when they lost
17-12 in the opening game and 34-10 in the third-place
playoff.
But Lièvremont stressed
that Saturday was not about revenge, instead it was about
starting something new.
“Now we must deliver. We
must win games starting against the Pumas, the Pacific
Islanders and the Wallabies this month,” he said.
And if that meant
compromising their traditional style of play to gain
victories, then so be it.
“It doesn’t mean that we are going to leave
our ambitious game in the dressing room. Our objective still
is to give ourselves the means to attack every time it’s
possible, but not to attack all the time,” he added.
It was a theme taken up by
Heymans, who told L’Equipe: “It doesn’t matter how, we
simply need to win.”
Heymans was playing when
France last beat Argentina – in Paris two years ago – and
said the recent results between the two countries, and the
world rankings, meant the Pumas would start as favourites on
Saturday.
He may have been indulging
in a spot of kidology but he wasn’t joking when he admitted
France would have to “raise the level of our game” to ensure
the win.
He also acknowledged ‘Les
Bleus’ would have to keep calm in the face of likely
provocation from their South American opponents.
“We need to stay really
cool, it’s evident,” he said. “There’s a history of rivalry
between us and them. There are rivalries between the
players, rivalries fought out on the field. But if that’s
the only thing that motivates us it would be worrying. It’s
part of the game, it’s in the corner of our minds – the
things that happened before, during and after the last two
matches.
“It’s an extra ingredient,
but it’s going to be a violent showdown. If we don’t want to
be tripped up we need to leave the field with our heads held
high. And for that we need to win this game. It doesn’t
matter how, we simply need to win.”
Meanwhile, Perpignan’s 6ft
7ins Scottish lock Nathan Hines believes his team have a
chance to upset the odds when they take on New Zealand on
Saturday.
The 32-year-old made his
debut against the All Blacks at Eden park eight years ago
and is relishing another crack at them as Scotland seek an
historic first win.
“We want to go out there
and give all we can. There is an opportunity for us to win
if we do everything we can and we it right, and when
opportunities come up we take them,” he said.
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