France coach Philippe Saint-Andre praised the collaboration between the national federation and French clubs following his side’s dramatic defeat of England.
France began their Six Nations campaign in the best possible fashion with a last-gasp defeat of their keenest rivals thanks to Maxime Machenaud’s conversion of Gael Fickou’s try at the Stade de France.
But Saint-Andre insisted France’s never-say-die finish would not have been possible without the help of Top 14 clubs and the French Rugby Federation (FFR).
“There was an evolution, we have to congratulate the French Federation because if we hadn’t had two weeks to prepare, we wouldn’t have won. I have to be clear on that,” said Saint-Andre.
“Also, I have to congratulate the Top 14 clubs because they didn’t have their players last weekend, it’s also due to this development [that France won].”
France were off to a flying start as Saint-Andre’s gamble on debutant fly-half Jules Plisson paid dividends, the Stade Francais No10 creating the opening try inside the first minute with a clever chip over the defence for Yoann Huget to score.
“Jules’ performance was in the image of the France team, the first 20 minutes were magisterial, magnificent, technically and tactically right. But then one moment he dipped, he missed a few tackles at the beginning of the second half and made some mistakes.
“But we challenged a young player to play at the top level, he lived up to it and in his first appearance for the national team to play 80 minutes, I must congratulate his mentality.”
According to captain Pascal Pape, last year’s trials and tribulations, in which they lost eight out of 11 internationals, created the strength of character that turned defeat into victory on Saturday.
“In 2013 we had a lot of disappointments, that also creates a group through bad results.
We learnt lessons,” he said. “We know there’s a lot to work on because we were the ones inside that game, we know where we want to be going so we’ll enjoy it and then get back to work.”
Meanwhile, Antoine Burban will discover the extent of the ham-string injury he suffered against England this morning.
