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France's new coaching ticket has now pretty much emerged
By Peter Hanson
Julien Bonnaire is among three former France internationals to have been named as assistants to new Les Bleus head coach Jacques Brunel.
The ex-Clermont Auvergne forward chalked up 75 appearances for France and started in the 2011 Rugby World Cup final defeat to New Zealand.
Bonnaire will be in charge of France's lineout, while Sebastien Bruno and Jean-Baptiste Elissalde will oversee the scrum and backs respectively.
All three players represented the national team under Bernard Laporte, who is now head of the French Rugby Federation (FFR).
A statement on the FFR's website read: "This innovative backroom staff mixes skills present at the hearts of our clubs and those coming from the federal set-up.
"It will be kept in place and boosted through to the 2019 World Cup. It is the first step for French rugby to rally around the French team."
Brunel was appointed as head coach last week following the dismissal of Guy Noves, who oversaw just seven wins in 21 Tests.
France start life under Brunel in their Six Nations opener against Ireland on February 3.
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Latest Comments
I thought you meant in europe. Because all of the reasons theyre different I wouldn't correlate that to mean for europe, as in french broadcasters pay two or three times as much as the UK or SA broadcasters do, like they do for their league.
With France, it's not just about viewers, they are also paying much more. So no doubt there will be a hit (to the amount the French teams receive for only playing a fraction of it) but they may not care too much as long as the big clubs, the top 8 for example, enter the meaty end, and it wouldn't have the same value to them as the top14 contract/compensation does. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if the 3 separate networks broadcast deals only went to the clubs in their regions as well (that's how SR ended up (unbalanced) I believe).
Go to commentsHis best years were 2018 and he wasn't good enough to win the World Cup in 2023! (Although he was voted as the best player in the world in 2023)
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