Lièvremont has no hard feelings
France coach Marc Lièvremont said he was not upset by his former France team-mate and rival for the coaching post Fabien Galthié joining up with Saturday's Test opponents, Argentina.
France coach Marc Lièvremont said he was not upset by his former France team-mate and rival for the coaching post Fabien Galthié joining up with Saturday's Test opponents, Argentina.
Lièvremont, who beat Galthié to the coaching hotseat after Bernard Laporte stood down following the 2007 World Cup, said that it was not for him to criticise the former France captain and scrum-half for taking a coaching role with the Pumas, who twice beat the French during the World Cup.
“It is not a case of Marc Lièvremont against Fabien Galthié, it is France against Argentina,” said Lièvremont, who was to many a surprise choice as coach as Galthié had experienced a successful spell with giants Stade Français.
“There is respect between us, I know that he is a competent coach and a big plus for the Argentinian backroom staff.
“I can't really criticise him in any case because we have David Ellis (defence coach) who is English and Gonzalo Quesada (kicking coach) who is Argentinian.
“We have crossed paths and discussed various players and the France team. We have known each other for 20 years, we were students together and team-mates with France.”
Galthié, who captained France to the 2003 semi-finals defeat by eventual champions England, had been thought to be the favourite to replace Laporte but the French Rugby Federation opted for Lièvremont, who had impressed in restoring Dax's championship status.
Galthié stepped down from the Stade job in June and has been acting as a media consultant since then.
“I am happy for him (Galthié) because he was a bit tired of the day to day coaching of an extremely demanding club,” said Lièvremont, who was a member of the French side that were beaten by Australia in the 1999 World Cup final.
“He has several things going on in his business life and it will be good for him to be able to focus on matters on the pitch for a few weeks.”