After two consecutive changes in the lower reaches of the management of les Bleues, a third is the most dramatic and far-reaching: Thomas Darracq, brought in last year to a new position termed ‘Responsable Sportif’ for Women’s Rugby continues his giddy rise by being appointed ‘Sélectionneur-entraîneur’ (Selector-Coach), a new position, but one that places him above Annick Hayraud.
With French logic, she remains manager as before, but has to take her orders from the new man- in-charge. She is happy to do so, according to the official word.
All this is in preparation for the World Cup, so obviously people in high places were unhappy about the way things were developing. The end of the season is as sensible a time for second thoughts as any, but does seem extraordinarily close to the Big Event.
With the dramatic clear-out in the Black Ferns set-up and the installation of a new head coach for the Maple Leafs, that makes three of the four top seeds going ino battle with new generals.
It’s a pity that the one female head coach of a Six Nations team is replaced by yet another man, but Darracq had appeared as something of a blue-eyed boy over the past few months, his views sought in interviews as often as Hayraud’s.
The change may well have the desired effect on a talented squad. A new voice is as good as a holiday, you might say, and Darracq talks a good game.
France had the clearly stated double objective of winning the 6N (that really meant the Grand Slam) and winning a first ever World Cup.
Since the first objective failed, albeit narrowly (12-24), the FFR obviously decided it was time for decisive action, and Hayraud has been in post since 2011, with a brief break in the mid-2010s.