Philippe Boher: 'We adapted our rugby specifically for this group'

No coach knows the player development pathway better in France than Philippe Boher. The former Perpignan boss, who played No8 for the Catalans and also Brive, has been in and around the youths scene for more than two decades now, initially earning his stripes with the U21s and then fulfilling a variety of other roles.

He’s now in Cape Town with the U20 class of 2024 as their defence coach, just 80 minutes and one win over England in the final on Friday away from equalling the record four-in-a-row title sequence New Zealand enjoyed from 2008 to 2011.

France, of course, had their dominance in this grade interrupted by the pandemic after their two-in-a-row of 2018 and 2019, but they ensured their methods of producing quality, title-winning players at this level didn’t fall into rack and ruin during the lay-off.

They re-emerged last year to convincingly win the 2023 Championship in South Africa with a bruising style of forward-dominated play epitomised by Posolo Tuilagi, and they are now back at the tournament final altar looking to be ordained champions once more but with a very different style of play.

“This year we know we must adapt our rugby specifically for this group,” Boher told RugbyPass having emerged from a video review session on England at his team’s Mill Street hotel just off the M3 expressway.

“It’s very different, whereas last year we were very powerful. Last year we were the most powerful in the Championship. This year we have a team with more running and more space players, so we try to be the best in that type of rugby. It’s different every year and we learn with the boys.”

Now 54, working in age-grade rugby has been a university of life for Boher as the current generation are very different from kids way back when he started out at the turn of the millennium. “The life is different, the boys are different,” he chuckled, sitting on a high stool in the lobby of accommodation they have shared with Italy.

“They are more aware of many things because of the computer, because of the social media, they work very well with the video and all that. They are quicker at the top level, they are more instinctive, they do many things by their own initiative – we just help them to find the way and they can go and find the solutions.

“So it’s good and it’s always a pleasure to have the best young players focused, motivated, very proud for the country, the jersey, always wanting to be world champion, and it’s always something special because for those boys it’s only once or twice, if they play up a year, in life. So it’s a huge opportunity and it’s always something special. It’s a big pleasure.”

The French have done it the hard way, this year in particular. Winning the age-grade Six Nations hasn’t been a full-on priority since they finished on top of the pile in 2018 as four successive second-place finishes were followed by third place last March in an edition where they somehow lost all three home matches.

What gives? “During the Six Nations many of our top boys are playing Top 14, the professional championship in France, and the best players are playing for the France Test team during the Six Nations,” explained Boher about the curiosity of the world champions not replicating that dominance in the closer to home tournament.

“Our boys are playing in their clubs, they are contracted to their clubs and we have an agreement if the best player is playing for the France team, they must play for the professional team and we pick a level of younger player during the Six Nations.

“After, we choose between the best young players who play in the Six Nations and the players who play in professional teams and we try to come in here for the U20 Championship with the best team we have.

“You know this year maybe some boys who were in Argentina with France, Posolo Tuilagi, centre Simeli Daunivucu, Leon Darricarrere and our winger Theo Attissogbe, four players who would be here with this team, with U20 team, were playing for France (at Test level), so that means the work with the pathway, with the youth team in France, is quite good.”

It sure is. French rugby has a history of teams imploding, of shrugging shoulders at the first of trouble, but that can’t be said about the U20s. Look at their response to recent adversity in Cape Town.

An 80th-minute New Zealand penalty dramatically left them beaten 26-27 in Stellenbosch on July 4. However, rather than crib and cry over that setback, they took a breath, quickly understood that a bonus-point win over Wales would still qualify them for the semi-finals, and they have been clinically brilliant in keeping alive their four-in-a-row title bid.

Just 44 minutes were needed against the Welsh to bag the four-try bonus point that guaranteed they progressed as the sole best runner-up from the three pools at the 12-team tournament, and the stylish manner of their 55-31 hammering of New Zealand in their Cape Town Stadium semi-final rematch was a joy to watch.

“The pitch was better than Stellenbosch,” explained Boher. “We tried to play our way in this game, to move the ball, to take opportunities in space and the team is better than the first game of the competition now. We have got the rhythm, got the good way to play our game.

“Of course we were excited watching because when the boys are playing like this, you realise the way we use to train the team is a good one for French boys, the French flair and the French spirit. This is our history and we want to keep this type of rugby on the pitch. We just help them find a way.”

That assistance in recent days has surrounded concocting a game plan that can get the better of England, their rivals who came to Pau 18 weeks ago to clinch their Six Nations title success with a 31-45 win. They’re feeling confident they can succeed.

“It’s a good spirit. The focus has been on recovery because the New Zealand game left a lot of players very tired so we needed to focus on recovery. We have had a look at all England’s games in this tournament.

“We think this is the biggest and best team of this tournament. They play very good rugby, they are very tough on set-pieces, good kickers, tackles, good ball carriers, with big forwards, very good lineout and it is sometimes a problem for us, so it is a big challenge to try to be at that level.

“We cannot have a too long training session this week but we will work a bit to try to raise these levels. If we raise these levels and if we can play our game, it could be an opportunity for us. But we know that England came during the U20 Six Nations in Pau and they beat us with very good rugby.

“They play the same here so it’s not easy to move this England team this year. We hope to have a history like last year [France won a 2023 semi-final against England 52-31 in Athlone] but the challenge is more difficult this year.”

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