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March 10, 2009

Posted on 03/10/2009

France playing without fear

France coach Marc Lievremont is creating a team that will play without fear, according to Hugh Godwin in The Independent.

"Marc Lièvremont kept his hands firmly on the desk in front of him when he met the media after the recent win over Wales but he might as well have given them the "bras d'honneur". Arm bent at the elbow, fist pumping upwards; the Gallic equivalent of our two-fingered salute. By inflicting a first defeat on the Welsh in two years of the Six Nations Championship, Lièvremont's France stayed in the running for the title and they will jog into Twickenham this Sunday with confidence renewed.

"The list of sporting coaches who have railed against the press is as long as your arm, bent or otherwise. But Lièvremont, who became head coach of Les Bleus at the start of 2008, is emerging as a man who knows which fights to pick and how to win them. Wales were beaten at their own high-tempo game at the Stade de France and it was a vindication of Lièvremont's chopping and changing of personnel, with a dollop of luck thrown in. Now for Les Rosbifs.

"The way Lièvremont describes it, France are seeking a Mediterranean style of rugby, which means a great reliance on the set piece, and a natural place for spreading the ball wide. A penalty try conceded by France's scrum at home to Ireland last year was the blackest of marks as the Lièvremont era began."

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