French No.8 Imanol Harinordoquy of Biarritz said that the French coach Marc Lièvremont was lost at the World Cup in New Zealand and that the players had taken over the running of the team, ignoring their coach.

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France did not have a smooth run through the pools, beaten by New Zealand (37-17) and Tonga (19-14) with unsatisfying victories over Japan and Canada. Then things changed and France beat England and Wales before running the mighty All Blacks desperately close in the Final at Eden Park in Auckland.

Harinordoquy has been outspoken before and was not, it seemed, a first choice player at the World Cup.

In an interview with Midi-Olympique, France’s rugby biweekly he said: “After the defeat against Tonga I did not attach too much importance to what Marc said. We had to take the matter into our own hands and had to get free from him.”

Harinordoquy said Lièvremont, who had referred to his players as spoilt brats at one stage, was “lost” (dépassé) and put too much pressure on his squad.

“He found fault with us too often in public. When things go wrong, we’re all in the same boat. There are no good or bad guys. When it happened after the Welsh match everybody found it abnormal.”

“I felt he was lost. I will not miss him,” he added.

Harinordoquy, who is 31 and has played 77 Tests for France, hopes to continue his international career under new coach Philippe Saint-André.