Didier RETIERE

Biog of Didier RETIERE :

Didier Retière was practically unknown when named alongside Marc Lièvremont and Emile Ntamack as France’s forward’s coach in October 2007. He was also the only one of the three not to have played rugby at the highest level*. But Retière, known as the “cube”, a former hooker who learnt his trade in the harsh rugby environment of Burgundy is nevertheless the main reason behind the French scrum’s rude health in the 2010 Grand Slam winning campaign, the November tests in the same year and the 2011 Six Nations tournament. Retière, at the controls of his high-tech joug (a simulator developed with the help of Thalès and the CNRS (which he uses to “torture” the players at Marcoussis)) declared at the beginning of last summer that he was delighted to see “that front rows have abandoned their recourse to pure power and have recognised the need to feel the pressure and direction of push exerted by their opposite number, and so have reverted to using technique and tactics.”

But to limit Retière’s sphere of influence to just ball winning would be unfair. Retière spent four years at the Direction Technique Nationale as head of France Under-19s (2003-2005) and then in charge of the Under-21s with Ntamack (2005-2007), winning the World Cup in 2006. And if he was chosen to assist Lièvremont and Ntamack in the full French set-up it was because he had demonstrated during that period that with his views on how the game should be played in general, he could successfully implement the “plan more suited to the French character” favoured by the FFR since the disappointing 2007 World Cup campaign.

Retière, like the good instructor he is (a qualified sports teacher) stated for that matter during the 2008 Six Nations tournament (which the coaching trio used as a testing ground for game plans and players) that he “wanted to win every match; we are going to make sure the big disappointments are a thing of the past.” And he justified the excesses of his young team by saying “It’s easier to play conservatively in a team that plays expansive rugby than it is to play expansive rugby in a team not used to playing that way. French Flair takes work.” Since then, the French team has not always attained the expected standards, particularly in June and November 2010, but they have nevertheless claimed some important scalps (New Zealand June 2009, South Africa November 2009, Grand Slam 2010). It has not always been plain sailing though and Les Bleus have also suffered some memorable hidings (New Zealand November 2009, South Africa and Argentina June 2010, Australia November 2010 – the biggest score ever conceded on French soil). Following on from the 2010 Grand Slam, the results of the 2011 Six Nations tournament were more than a little mixed, in the image of the historic defeat in Italy.

Retière no doubt draws some of his serenity from working on his in-laws’ vineyards in Nuits-Saint-Georges, and despite the setbacks the self-proclaimed “most academic” of the three coaches continues to carry out his duties with the French team in the minutest detail.


* Retière first played rugby in the Yvelines region before moving to Racing (1987-1990) and then PUC (1990-1991), but spent the most significant part of his career at Le Creusot (1991-1993) and Stade Dijonnais (1994-1998) in the Groupe A division. He finished his playing career at Nuits-Saint-Georges in Fédérale 2 at the same time as fulfilling his role as Regional Technical Advisor.