After four years of remorseless failure, Phillipe Saint Andre's reign as France coach came to an end last night.
It is clear that France need to quickly reverse out of whatever dead end they've driven down in the last few years. They will do so without Frederic Michalak and Pascal Pape, both of whom announced their international retirements last night.
Gavin Mortimer, historian, writer and the anglosphere's Midi Olimpique correspondent, has updated everyone on what's going down in the French press this morning.
L'Equipe's front page is heavy on tough words. Words like 'disaster', 'humiliation', and 'nightmare'.
'Disaster', 'Nightmare', 'Humiliated'..how today's @lequipe sums up France's annihilation last night pic.twitter.com/Mrw5NNWGYF
— gavin mortimer (@gavinmortimer7) October 18, 2015
addresses the managerial question with a large picture of Saint Andre, the French Federation President Pierre Camou, and Serge Blanco underneath the accusatory headline 'Tous Coupables', meaning 'All Guilty'.
I fear so @ruckinred Although I like this headline in @lequipe (All Guilty) pic.twitter.com/ox0fmcFRho — gavin mortimer (@gavinmortimer7) October 18, 2015
Inside, Christophe Lamaison, the out-half on the famous day in 1999, said it would be wrong to blame the foreign coaches and players in the Top 14, and the biggest thing he took from the game was the difference in individual skill level between the French and New Zealand players. France, he said, 'is no longer a major rugby nation'.
Meanwhile, the player ratings are suitably vicious, with a number of players receiving two points.
Here are @lequipe's player ratings. By the way, if you missed it, Michalak's announced his international retirement pic.twitter.com/h9f15zbkfD
— gavin mortimer (@gavinmortimer7) October 18, 2015
