Victory while unearthing talent the goal - Saint-Andre

MARCOUSSIS, France (AFP) –

France coach Philippe Saint-Andre, pictured in March 2012, has fixed the twin goals of unearthing some younger players and being competitive when his team tours Argentina next month.

France coach Philippe Saint-Andre has fixed the twin goals of unearthing some younger players and being competitive when his team tours Argentina next month.

The French XV will play two Test matches on June 16 and 23 against Los Pumas, who will be in full preparation mode for their entry into the Rugby Championship, the reformatted Tri-Nations tournament that involved Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

“To win,” Saint-Andre said when asked what he expected of the two internationals. “We know it’ll be tough but we need that.

“And then, to regenerate. Some guys haven’t stopped for 15 or 16 months. They need rest if we want to find them fresh for the November internationals.

“We’re not going to take many players in their 30s… with a plan that they can recuperate mentally and physically.

“We’ll take some youngsters and three or four guys with great potential whom we think can progress but need to experience the highest level to acquire that extra dimension.”

But Saint-Andre was under no illusion how tough France’s outings would be against Argentina, for whom a number of senior players will be rested.

“When I was a player, I played them eight or nine times and lost only once,” he said. “Recently, we’ve won only once in the last eight games against them.

“They’re really in the midst of restructuring, their best players will be in Argentina until November, what with the Rugby Championship and the tours. They’re on the right track.

“The Argentinian juniors have also had some good results, they’re used to playing together. The coach has called up an experienced player in (Felipe) Contepomi, and also (Rodrigo) Roncero, for whom it will be his swansong.

“It’ll be very complicated but we’re going there to play good rugby. We’re coming off the back of two defeats by England and Wales. We need to find some young players, but also to be competitive.”

Saint-Andre, who took over as France coach from Marc Lievremont after last year’s World Cup when the French lost by a point to New Zealand in the final, said he had been left unsatisfied with his team’s Six Nations showing.

“It’s not possible to be happy with two victories and a draw!” he said.

“Defensively, we produced our best performance against Wales. Afterwards, we saw that by trying to impose our game a little more, we scored tries on turnover ball: 90 percent of tries scored were from our own initiatives.

“We suffered in adapting in attack and reorganising defensively. We also lacked precision in the final pass, drop-goals and goal-kicking.”

The former Gloucester and Sale coach said one of the major positives to come out of the Six Nations was the emergence of a group of young players such as centre Wesley Fofana and lock Yoann Maestri.

But he warned that the France set-up had to become more organised and offer more downtime to top players, in line with other frontline rugby-playing nations.

“All the other countries are organised. The Italians are in the process of doing it, the Argentinians also. Let’s not talk about the southern hemisphere. The Irish, Welsh, Scottish and English are really well organised.

“The France team needs to organise itself, our players need to have more time off.”

On that note, Saint-Andre said he would be justified in likely making indefatigable captain and flanker Thierry Dusautoir sit out the tour.

“He’s a competitor and he wants to come,” he said. “But if we don’t rest him now, we’ll never rest him. He give so much, he needs to recharge his batteries.”