As they prepare to face England at Twickenham on Saturday, a quick analysis of France by a casual rugby observer would show that the country’s game is in good health.
It is, in many ways. Fabien Galthie’s national team are the reigning Six Nations champions and last year’s Grand Slam winners. His side is packed with world-class talent. They have a golden generation of players. Later this year, France will host a World Cup that could well be the best yet.
Below international level, their club game is thriving across the country. But at the same time, there is a much murkier side to French rugby, one that its authorities would prefer to forget.
That, frankly, has proven impossible as firings, resignations and damaging claims of rampant corruption at the highest level have dominated the headlines.
Head coach Galthie and his players continued as a political storm raged. But there is no doubt that the actions of Bernard Laporte and Claude Atcher have threatened to derail the French rugby project just as it approaches its rise to the biggest stage.
France have a squad full of world-class talent hoping to travel to Twickenham on Saturday and pick up a big win against England in what should be a fierce Six Nations clash.
However, French rugby is in poor health with Bernard Laporte (left) convicted of corruption, while Claude Atcher (right) was sacked after an investigation into his workplace conduct.
‘This is not over yet. The process is still ongoing,’ French great Olivier Magne told Sportsmail, when asked for his view on Laporte and Atcher’s controversial brushes.
‘Not good. We cannot make the same mistakes in the future. We have to deal with it. After what happened to Laporte, we have to be cleaner with our way of working, more transparent.’
The irony that it is Laporte, who started French rugby’s journey from mediocrity to Six Nations champion, who is now the country’s villain has not gone unnoticed by many.
Laporte was the France coach from 1999 to 2007. He won four Six Nations titles before moving to Toulon and winning three European Cups.
In 2016, he became president of the French Rugby Federation (FFR). His success as a coach had already made him a powerful figure, but Laporte’s work in the presidency was just as impressive.
It unified the previously fragmented French system from top to bottom after years of utter failure. The France men’s team is undoubtedly one of the best in the world, currently behind only Ireland in the official rankings. The country’s age rating system is a conveyor belt of talent. France’s elite league, the TOP 14, is hugely competitive.
Unlike England’s Gallagher Premiership, it is awash in cash and financially stable. The attendance is consistently impressive.
The same is true further down the pyramid of the French club system. Last season, French teams won both European rugby titles. The country’s women’s game is also healthy.
Laporte can take much of the credit for that. But in January, he went from hero to zero when he resigned as president after being convicted of corruption.
Laporte (pictured) can take credit for French teams clinching both European rugby titles last season, but he and Atcher have threatened to derail the French rugby project.
He had received a suspended sentence of two years in prison and a heavy fine in December. A court found he had shown favoritism by awarding a national team shirt endorsement deal to Mohed Altrad, the billionaire owner of TOP 14 champion Montpellier. The affair has clouded France’s preparations for the World Cup. World.
It was the latest blow to organizers after former World Cup chief executive Atcher was sacked following an investigation into his workplace conduct.
One report found that Atcher oversaw an “extremely degraded social environment” and a “climate of terror” at the World Cup venue in France. France’s sports minister, Amelie Oudea-Castera, has been busy cleaning up the country’s sporting messes, with the rugby boss in her sights.
Former tennis star Oudea-Castera’s investigation into Atcher found “alarming management practices” and the “suffering of some employees.”
A government ministry audit led by Oudea-Castera also led to the resignation of French soccer president Noel Le Great, 81. That audit concluded that Le Great did not have “the necessary legitimacy” to play the role of him.
At first glance, corruption has been at the very core of the highest level of French sport. There have also been multiple claims about ticket corruption surrounding the World Cup in France later this year. Laporte, who became World Rugby vice-chairman in 2020, also resigned from that position after his name erupted in controversy.
He has remained mostly quiet on the issue and has appealed. But in January, Laporte told the French publication Le Journal du Dimanche: “They have the right to say what they want.
I am sure that I am innocent. I don’t see why I should go. That would mean that I acknowledge the facts of which I am accused. Impossible.’
Head coach Fabien Galthie (center) has been performing normally despite the news off the pitch.
So has the off-pitch circus in French rugby become a problem that could taint the World Cup?
“Yes, yes, yes,” said Magne, a former fluid flanker who played under Laporte for France. ‘Of course it has been great news and it is not a good image or one that we want to give of French rugby to the rest of the world. In France there are still many people who do not understand why Laporte did what he did or ended up in this position.
‘The sports minister is very committed to cleaning up French rugby. They have put a lot of pressure on them to be more accountable and more transparent in the way they work. You have seen it in other sports like soccer too. It hasn’t had a big impact on the team. They are focused. They do not talk about politics or what has happened to Laporte.
Galthie and his players have had to put their rugby bosses’ issues aside. They will have to keep doing it if they want to be victorious in ‘Le Crunch’ this weekend.
No team from France has won at Twickenham in the Six Nations since 2005.
“The state of rugby on the pitch in France at the moment is very good,” said Magne, who now works with Lyon’s youth players and as a media expert. ‘The club game is healthy and well structured.
“There has been a lot of hard work in the last 10 years to get here. We are a very good team. Everyone is working together and that makes a big difference. For the first time, the number of rugby players in France is increasing and I think after the World Cup it will get better and better.
French great Olivier Magne told Sportsmail problems off the pitch could stain the World Cup
‘We had spent the previous 10 years with very poor results. At one point, France was ranked 10th in the standings. When Laporte arrived, he said that it was impossible for our country to be at this level. We had to do better. A golden generation of players arrived with Antoine Dupont, Damian Penaud and Romain Ntamack.
“We built the structure around this generation of players, but we are also thinking about what we can do better in the next 10 years to stay at this level. It will not be easy.
‘Everyone is looking forward to the World Cup this year and we also have the Olympic Games in 2024. There is a lot of excitement around the national team. We have a lot of pressure to be world champions, but I think everyone in French rugby, including the players, knows that it won’t be easy.
“It’s always difficult to win at Twickenham and we know that, but I think France and Ireland are the best teams in Europe at the moment.” They play on another level to others.
“I don’t think England is playing at the same level as France. I would like to say that France will win and I hope they will.’
Olivier Magne’s three French players to watch at Twickenham
Thibaud’s brand new
Position: Block / Flanker
Age: 25
Club: Toulouse
He is doing a very good Six Nations. Everyone talks about Antoine Dupont and the other key players, but Flament is very important.
Antonie DuPont
Position: scrum half
Age: 26
Club: Toulouse.
Of course, we have to mention Dupont. He’s still amazing and he can win a game by himself. He is one of the best in the world, without a doubt.
Ethan Dumortier
Position: Wing
Age: 22
Club: Leon
He has scored two tries for France in this Six Nations. I think it will be a good test for him to experience Twickenham. He is a young but very talented player.
Antoine Dupont is one of three key French stars England should watch out for