Pim, Pam, Poum (Crash Bang Wallop)

Whatever happened to French flair? Le Monde asked last week.

In a long column, the newspaper lamented the end of the flamboyance which had been the hallmark of French rugby teams - indeed the French nation as a whole -throughout the ages.

The philosophy of the swashbuckling Musketeers had given way to anglo-saxon discipine under the weight of professionalism, said Pierre Villepreux, the former French coach.

His concerns are widely shared although not often aired publicly in France.

Amongst fans, for instance, there is a lingering suspicion Bernard Laporte, the coach, has turned his back on an ancestral culture in favour of an English approach - Pim, Pam, Poum (Crash Bang Wallop), as Le Monde called it.

You hear these qualms on radio sport talk shows when listeners call to lament the decline of 'le beau jeu'.

They point to the relegation of Fred Michalak and Christophe Dominici - the most Gallic members of the French squad - to the substitute's bench for the game against England: and to the failure of Toulouse, the most entertaining French club side, to win the championship since 2001.

Of course, if France win the World Cup, such worries will be swept aside in a tidal wave of emotion.

No one, for instance, dared to criticise the nation's footballers when they put aside French flair and adopted German tactics to win 1998 football World Cup, conceding just two goals throughout the tournament.

But if Laporte loses his gamble, the anguish will be intense. Those supporters who believe a glorious defeat is better than a victoire â l'anglaise will come out of the woodwork.

And they will accuse him of abandoning the Gallic soul.

Adam Sage is a Times correspondent in Paris

Comments

[Heavy]

It happens not only to France, but to almost any other team. This WC, with the exception of Tonga and Fiji, nobody has played "jogo bonito" (and I mean in tight games, not an NZL-ROM).

It's a shame, but "professionalization" has led us to this point: powerful defenses, poor attacks, much kicking, poor skills...