Emile NTAMACK

Biog of Emile NTAMACK :

Emile Ntamack, an outstanding player (46 selections between 1994 and 2000, see profile) has now become a coach. Ntamack‘s coaching credentials first came under the spotlight when France Under-21s, which he managed with Didier Retière (already), won the World Cup in June 2006, and then again when he was named in October 2007 as Marc Lièvremont’s assistant coach (with Retière) to run the full French team. However Ntamack began his coaching career in more discreet surrounding when in 2004, while still playing for Stade Toulousain, he took over the running of the club’s “hopefuls.”

A gym teacher by training, Ntamack has always voiced his desire to pass on what he has learnt. He has been deeply influenced by the great coaches he has played under, such as Pierre Villepreux from his sports studies days at the Lycée Jolimont, Guy Novès of course at Toulouse, and Pierre Berbizier and Jean-Claude Skrela (with Villepreux again) for the French team. From Berbizier he has retained rigour, from the others a taste for the game played with audacity and enterprise. “If you want a structured game with strong defence and kicking for territory, there are no doubt others that could do a better job,” he declared in February 2008 after his first match as coach of the national side (Scotland – France, 6-27). The coaching trio advocated an expansive game that bordered on the reckless. It was a big leap in responsibility for the three new incumbents but they were determined to stick to their convictions - Ntamack (who Retière identifies as the “upholder of the spirit”, and Ellis the defence specialist describes as “always buzzing”) first and foremost.

Emile Ntamack, having only previously coached Toulouse “hopefuls” and France Under-21s from 2005 to 2007, was seen by some (as were his two partners, come to that) to be too inexperienced to preside over the destiny of the French team. Although Grand Slam winners in 2010 France have struggled to produce the level of game they are striving for, notably in the June and November 2010 tests and then in the 2011 Six Nations tournament - with the exception of the final match against Wales. At the end of 2010, the head coach Lièvremont took over sole responsibility, which, up until that point, he had shared with his assistants leading, despite denials, to suspicions of a break down in internal relations. Nonetheless, the future for the “Black Panther”, as he was known at the time when he strode out in the French shirt, seems to be mapped out already. “In the short or middle term, Emile will coach Stade Toulousain,” predicts Novès – a dream come true for Ntamack. How France perform in the 2011 World Cup will surely decide his immediate future.