Who wants a single national training centre?
The French have a training centre, at Marcoussis, the so-called CNR (Centre National de Rugby); the English don’t.
The English have a magnificent national stadium; the French don’t.
A Project that failed
Fifteen years ago the French Rugby Union (FFR) was desperate to find a stadium it could call its own. The consortium that owned the Stade de France in Paris was charging the FFR what they felt was an unjustifiably high price for using it.
A site was found, a former racecourse at Evry south-east of Paris. After the course closed down in 1996, it had a number of uses till in 2013 the FFR bought it out. This was a ‘Grand Projet’ to end all Grands Projets. Plans for a new stadium alone were estimated to cost 600m euros, one billion all in! (and those prices are a decade old). Capacity 85,000 – that is, bigger than Twickenham!
Like one or two other projects you may think of, this one ran out of control. By 2016 it was all over and Bernard Laporte was the master of ceremonies. Now, if they had spotted a cabbage-patch to bid for instead?
A Project that succeeded
And all this time the FFR had been using its own Training Centre at Marcoussis, opened as long ago as 2002. It was used for the pool stages of the 2014 World Cup.
Until recently the various squads used the base separately. But this focus on one assembly-point eventually led the French coaches to accept the idea of everyone training together, men and women, 15s and 7s, national and junior squads.
The original idea of co-operation came from the experienced head coach of the French women’s 7s squad, David Courteix, and supported by Christophe Reigt, who runs the national 7s programme.
A strong sense of friendly inter-working has developed between the 15s and 7s factions that is not immediately visible in England. So unlike the Red Roses, the two French squads will spend some sessions working together, then directly with age-groups squads, a move that must surely help the juniors to find their feet more readily.
Over the past couple of years both nations have seemed to be working towards a clearer separation of the short and long-form games, but neither has yet set it in stone. Recent squad lists reveal players who have experience of both, but, as we wait for definite news about the Red Roses’ route forward, it seems unlikely that any of the 2021 World Cup squad will ship across to the short format. And yet, as they say, anything is possible.
Meantime, if your private helicopter can land you in a quiet corner of Marcoussis, you will see the men’s U20 squad preparing for its version of the 6 Nations alongside their Sevens comrades. By the time you’ve strolled across to the touchline, you may be offered Bleus and Bleues training together in harmonious combat.
This is an initiative the FFR is proud of. It helps to strengthen a sense of club unity, while the coaches appreciate the benefits of versatility, especially among the junior age-groups.
I have mentioned before England’s lack of a training headquarters. Could the RFU still be looking at the possibility? England squads of every complexion move around the country taking up residence in pleasant locations that must cost a pretty penny.
Lacking your own backyard to play in has a drawback: you are liable to restrictions. You aren’t master of all you survey. The French can organise their day in time, space and human input just as they wish.
Who are the winners?
So it’s a curious tit-for-tat: ‘we have what they want; they have what we want.’
If that plan for a French national stadium had not been halted by the recently deposed French president, Bernard Laporte, it might have cost the FFR an arm and a leg and might not yet be complete. Ah, me!
It leaves both nations a touch envious of what the other possesses, but proud of what it can show off to the world.
