Marc LIEVREMONT

Biog of Marc LIEVREMONT :

When Marc Lièvremont succeeded Bernard Laporte as French coach in October 2007 he was as surprised as everyone else. Lièvremont’s coaching experience was limited. He had just led Dax to promotion back to the Top 14 (2005-2007) having previously been in charge of Biarritz “hopefuls” and France Under 21s (2002-2005). At the time he himself conceded, “It was never an ambition of mine and I can understand why people might worry about my lack of experience.” After the trouncing against Australia in November 2010 (16-59) at the Stade de France – the biggest reverse ever suffered by the French team on home soil, the second biggest ever anywhere - followed by a mixed 2011 Six Nations tournament marked by the historic defeat at the hands of the Italians in Rome (22-21), questions intensified. About the game plan, about his selection policy and the very high turnover in the back line in particular. What conclusions should be drawn from Lièvremont’s record after three and a half years in the job - 36 matches, 21 victories and 15 defeats, including several big losses in 2010, the lowest success rate since 1981*? (after both friendly tests against Ireland in August, his record increased at 61% of victories)

Lièvremont is a straightforward, thoughtful man. After the (already) disastrous June 2010 tour (83 points conceded in 2 matches against South Africa and Argentina, 30 points scored) he felt obliged to recognize that “It’s a disaster, a wasteland. How can we have gone so far backwards in just a few weeks?” he agonised. A month or so before, France had won the Grand Slam in the Six Nations tournament, which in terms of results represented the high point of his stewardship, although he was the first to admit the standard of rugby was still not good enough. “When you look at Southern Hemisphere rugby you have to put our results in the tournament and the European Cup (Toulouse beat Biarritz in the final) into perspective,” he stressed in May 2010. “The Southern nations are superior in attacking play, technical quality, pace, and in stringing the phases together.” And he returned to the subject in October in the pages of Sud Ouest, confirming that he would not be seeking a second mandate at the head of the French team because “the national side is not the priority in French rugby” and “The Top 14 favours ten-man rugby, but in terms of attacking ambition it is poor.”

Is Lièvremont a fatalist? No – an idealist and perhaps a little too much of a dreamer for some. The new coach hired two assistants, Emile Ntamack and Didier Retière, products like himself of the National Rugby Centre at Marcoussis. They were no more experienced than Lièvremont (see profiles) but were as convinced as he was himself that “you can play a rugby that doesn’t just rely on the mistakes of the opposition.” The trio (Lièvremont was nominally number one at the time but shared responsibility with the other two, assuming sole responsibility in 2011) took over from the extremely pragmatic Laporte, and right from the start they pushed their players to play expansive rugby, with the goal of breaking their “conservative habits”. It was the beginning of the clash between the ambitions of the coach and the reality of the Championship that produced the internationals in the first place. From July 2008 onwards, Lièvremont berated the insane calendar that led his first captain, Lionel Nallet, to play for 53 weeks without a break. One year later, before flying out to New Zealand, Lièvremont asked, “When it is time to pick the squad, how do you decide which players to choose? Apart from seeing that they get stuck in and they can kick a ball… That’s the problem, that’s enough to get by in the Top 14 today.”

Led by their new captain, Thierry Dusautoir, Les Bleus, who looked off colour in November 2008 and were not wholly convincing in the 2009 Six Nations tournament (victory against Wales, the favourites, followed by a resounding defeat at Twickenham), went on nevertheless to win, on 13 June 2009 in Dunedin, their first test on All Black soil since 1994. It was one of France’s best results and one that could be put down to a physical commitment and a hermetic defence that would prove to be the cornerstone of their success against the world champions, South Africa, a few months later and the 2010 Grand Slam that followed. Even Lièvremont let out a “What a prize!” on the night of France’s ninth Grand Slam win. The dark silent one was smiling. But the satisfaction was cut short by the June 2010 tour, as it had been at the end of November 2009 when the All Blacks trounced France in Marseille.

The 2011 Six Nations tournament, with a deserved defeat in England, an historic loss in Italy but an encouraging victory against Wales to finish, did not provide many answers. Worse was to come. Two of the undisputable starting line-up (Thomas Domingo and Aurélien Rougerie) were badly injured a few weeks later, further complicating the coach’s task, who was due to submit an expanded list of 32 players for the World Cup on 11 May.  He caused a stir by leaving out Sébastien Chabal, Yannick Jauzion and Clément Poitrenaud but including Louis Picamoles, Raphael Lafakia and Cédric Heymans. His decision to pick only two hookers and two scrum-halves and to bank on the return to competitive rugby of the long term injured (Barcella, Domingo and Rougerie) in the squad was also surprising.

Lièvremont, despite the problems, is still optimistic. He even says he is ready to die with his convictions and can take pride in the fact that he has been able to replace leaders such as Pelous and Ibanez and star players like Milloud, De Villiers and Betsen. Lièvremont continued to get the best out of Dusautoir, Bonnaire, Harindordoquy, Jauzion, Traille and Clerc and re-launched the international careers of Mas, Nallet, Servat, Papé and Rougerie. He was also the coach who gave Domingo, Barcella, Millo-Chlusky, Pierre, Ouedraogo, Picamoles, Lauret, Dupuy, Parra, Trinh-Duc, Mermoz, Bastareaud, Malzieu, Andreu, Palisson, Fall, Médard and Huget their breaks. It remains to be seen, whether, as he is hoping, that two months preparation in the lead-up to the World Cup will allow him to work over an extended period with fresh players who are dedicated 100% to the adventure, and so fully realise his potential as a coach.  

Before the run-up to the World Cup Lièvremont’s coaching record stands at 21 victories (58%) and 15 defeats for the 36 matches played (after both friendly tests against Ireland in August, his record increased at 61% of victories). His record against the principal nations of the Southern Hemisphere (Argentina, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand) is nowhere near as good: 4 wins (31 %), 9 defeats…


As a player, Marc Lièvremont won 25 caps for France between 1995 and 1999 (as a flanker) and was part of the Grand Slam winning team in 1998 and also played in the 1999 World Cup final. At club level, starting out at Argelès-sur-Mer, Lièvremont played for Perpignan from 1988 until 1997 and then Stade Français between 1997 and 2000, winning the French Championship in 1998. A knee injury forced him to retire in 2002 after two last seasons at Biarritz. For Perpignan, Biarritz and France he played alongside his brother Thomas (but played against him in the Championship final in 1998). As Dax coach Marc Lièvremont was in charge of his brothers, Thomas and Mathieu, and as head of the French team selected Mathieu on two occasions, in June 2008.


* Jacques Fouroux was the first to fill the selector/coach role that we know today.

Lievremont 1 : la vocation (Interview au CNR Marcoussis - Février 2011)

Lievremont 2 : la construction (Interview au CNR Marcoussis - Février 2011)

Lievremont 3 : la nomination (Interview au CNR Marcoussis - Février 2011)

Lievremont 4 : la fonction (Interview au CNR Marcoussis - Février 2011)

Lievremont 5 : le contexte politique (Interview au CNR Marcoussis - Février 2011)