Sin haber ganado la Webb Ellis Cup, Francia tiene un envidiable record en los Mundiales, habiendo sido finalistas en 1987, 1999 y 2011. No se puede decir lo mismo del seven donde la mejor posiión ha sido quinto
Ahora que se confirmó al sevens hasta los Juegos de 2024 como mínimo, la Fédération Française de Rugby (FFR) decidió incorporar a uno de los mejores en el tema para mejorar su juego.
POTENCIAL FRANCÉS
Ben Ryan, ganador de los Juegos Olímpicos y del HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series con Fiji, se ha sumado como consultor en un contrato de 18 meses hasta el final de RWC Sevens 2018 en San Francisco, con el objetivo de conseguir que Francia sea un equipo temindo.
Si bien no se sabe que tan lejos podrá llevar a Francia, lo que vio el inglés en el Oktoberfest Sevens de Munich hace quince días fue positivo.
“Los vi entrenar y en algunos de sus partidos además de analizar sus partidos del año pasado y creo que tienen el mismo que los jugadores ingleses," dijo Ryan. Tienen el potencial de ser uno de los cuatro o cinco mejores equipos que hay."
INCONSISTENT
Ryan believes that ironing out the inconsistency of performance that has dogged France in the past will be one of the keys to unlocking their potential.
“I think if you look back to my time with England, and I was to write a report on the French sevens team, I’d say they had some good players but they were incredibly inconsistent. If you got a couple of scores ahead then generally their heads went down and the game was won. It wasn’t always the case but there was just a real level of inconsistency,” he explained.
“At the same time, we could see in some tournaments, and it happened in Dubai and in the South African legs occasionally, where the French team were on a roll and they started to get confidence and they started to win games. A lot of this is linked to their mental attitude.
“Perhaps there is that subconscious feeling that they are not up to the standard of Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, South Africa, England … and that they should be in that second group, but that is 100 per cent not the case as far as I can see.
“I have seen the coaches, the medical and management staff and the players and they are all at a standard that can compete with the likes of England etc. So, it is about application, confidence, about working hard on the small things. I am hoping that I will be able to add some technical areas that I think we can improve on.”
POTENTIAL
Behind Ryan’s genial exterior lies a steely determination to help France’s players make their mark on the world stage.
“I am at a point in my career where I am not pussy-footing around, I will tell them exactly what I see. If I think they are doing something wrong, I will tell them. If the planning is wrong, I will tell them. If I think that there is something wrong on the training field or with their conditioning, I will tell them.
“I think that I will be a good quality controller I guess, to make sure they don’t go down long roads of training or planning that won’t bring results. It is quite exciting really and I am enjoying my time with the players.
“I could immediately see that they are a good bunch that I really want to do well. They have some ups and downs but if we can get to some very late stages of tournaments and improve the World Series standings this year and have a really good Hong Kong and World Cup then it will lay the foundations for the following year which is a very important one, with Olympic qualification.”
Cambridge graduate Ryan helped England to reach new milestones during his six years in charge of the team, before going on to win the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series twice and an Olympic gold medal as coach of Fiji.
MAKING CHANGES
But the Rugby World Cup Sevens title is one notable omission from his glittering CV. To do so with France would probably go down as one of the finest achievements of his career, and Ryan admits it is a challenge that excites him.
“The FFR spoke to me at the end of last season and they asked about my availability. They told me that they were making some changes in the sevens programme and they were hoping that I would be able to come and help make those changes as easy and as positive as possible,” he said.
“There isn’t a history of sevens in France, unlike Fiji where all the players will be playing tournaments all the time. In France there isn’t a huge amount of sevens played and I know that the FFR are trying to address that and add tournaments and competitions.
“It’s a really good challenge for me for many reasons. I’ll need to get my French up to standard – by the end of the season I want to spend a whole day talking in French – and it’s a new culture.
“I am contracted with the FFR until just after the World Cup in July and at that point both sides will look at it and see whether this is something we can continue. From my point of view, I hope it will.”