FRANCE HEAD COACH Philippe Saint-Andre yesterday attempted to make light of his unwitting ascent to the ranks of viral YouTube sensation.
The former Sale boss was shown on live TV as he gave an impassioned and extremely animated half-time team-talk to Les Bleus after 40 minutes of last Wednesday’s win over Romania.
“To be honest, I didn’t think about the fact that there may have been one or two cameras,” said PSA after naming his team to face Canada in Milton Keynes tomorrow.
“A coach needs to be able to scream when needed, and to congratulate his players when things are going well.
“Apparently cameras are mandatory, so next time I’m getting upset, we’ll go under the showers!”
With the knee injury suffered by Yoann Huget in the opening fixture against Italy, Saint-Andre has named a third fresh wing combination in as many games. In what is an otherwise tried-and-test XV, along with a debut for Huget’s replacement Remy Grosso, there is the intriguing selection of a second fullback in the back three – Brice Dulin.
“He is a great player, a true competitor. He was probably the best player against Romania: he won all his one-on-ones, was able to move forward and to make important passes,” the head coach says of the Racing Metro 15-turned-11.
“Matches are very intense, players have a lot of playing time, and we need feisty players. More and more teams play with two full-backs in the backline.”
“Brice is fast, wins his one-on-ones, is good with high balls and a good kicker. His left-foot kick gives us more possibilities, especially if it’s raining.”
At this stage, no coach will be willing to give too much insight in to his thinking behind selection. But if France are expecting Joe Schmidt’s Ireland to tighten up their gameplan for the 11 October Pool D finale and show some of the aerial bombardment witnessed in the Six Nations, the addition of Dulin along side Scott Spedding is certainly worth keeping an eye on.
