France coach Marc Lievremont, while satisfied overall with his side’s resilient display in their 17-9 defeat by bitter rivals England which cost them a chance of a successive Six Nations Grand Slam, admitted there was still room for improvement.
The 42-year-old former backrow forward – a member of the side that lost to Australia in the 1999 World Cup final – added that he would not be using the next match against winless Italy to experiment radically with his side as it would bring the game into disrepute and be disrespectful to their opponents.
However, Lievremont – who guided France to their first Grand Slam since 2004 last year – admitted that in order to come out of the tournament with a measure of confidence ahead of their bid to at last win the World Cup they would have to polish up several aspects of their play.
“We are going to have to progress at all levels,” said Lievremont, who was a surprise choice to replace Bernard Laporte after the 2007 World Cup.
“Not just in the physical aspect but also in terms of quality in the technical side.
“We lacked judgement, we played accuracy and depth when we had the ball, and we found it hard to find space on the wings, especially in the second half.
“As regards the managing of the match, when we conceded the try (to Ben Foden in the second half), we counter-attacked immediately from our own half and almost conceded a second.
“We should have focused on doing that sort of thing in the oppositions’ half. Those are small details. We are always torn between the wish to produce and put into practice the balance between the kicking game and the passing game.”
Lievremont was adamant that the match against Italy in Rome would be treated with the utmost respect.
“It is out of the question to treat this match with Italy with disrespect and bring the game into disrepute,” he said.
“We are going to treat this match with a lot of respect. They (the Italians) have suffered three successive defeats (13-11 against Ireland, 59-13 against England and 24-16 on Saturday against Wales) and the spectre of the wooden spoon hangs over them.
“But it is not out of the question that there will be changes. In the squad of 23 in any case.”
Lievremont – who will name his squad for the World Cup on May 9 – said that he would announce the group for the Italy match tomorrow once the fitness of fly-half Francois Trinh-Duc and fullback Maxime Medard have been assessed.
Medard – France’s leading tryscorer in the tournament with two tries – was forced to sit out the England clash because of a hamstring injury but is expected to be fit whilst Trinh-Duc had to come off in the 67th minute with a knee injury after apparently being stamped on by England prop Dan Cole.
Should Trinh-Duc not be considered fit enough then David Skrela will step in for his 21st cap, though, Lievremont’s plans may be disrupted after next weekend’s Top 14 programme when the clubs are allowed to select their international players.
Next matches
March 12: 2.30 p.m. Italy vs France. 5 p.m. Wales vs Ireland.
March 13: 3 p.m. England vs Scotland.
March 19: 2.30 p.m. Scotland vs Italy. 5 p.m. Ireland vs England. 8.45 p.m. France vs Wales.