Back To Articles
Print This Article
Discuss This Article
Off the Wall
Written by: Jeff WallNov 6, 2009 9:52am
I was going to head this column "A credibility challenge for France this weekend". But when I looked through France's international "record" over the last 30 years or so, I decided it had already faced that challenge - and flunked it completely!
I can still remember the era when France was generally competitive against Australia - up to the mid-1970's. But when you look at the record since it has been a downhill slide, and frankly one that shows no sign of reversing.
We need to go back to last year's World Cup to see how ingloriously France has sunk as a rugby league force. France finished the World Cup in last place - and lost its final game against Samoa, yes Samoa, 42-10! And it had earlier gone down to Fiji 42-6.
In matches against Australia since the mid-1970's there have been any number of results which point to an absolute annihilation on Sunday morning. In 2005, Australia trounced France 44-12. But in the previous one off test prior to that - in 1994 - Australia thrashed France 74-0...and that was in France!
In the same year, Australia rolled France 58-0 at Parramatta Stadium. In 1990, two tests played in France saw 60-4 and 34-10. And in 1986 it was 44-2 and 52-0.
And on and on the sorry tale goes.
The sad reality is that France can no longer be regarded as a serious international competitor. In any realistic rating s system it would rate below PNG, Fiji, Samoa and now probably Tonga and the Cook Islands!
If the Australian team, with a few stars rested, racks up a fifty plus margin on Sunday morning you have to question the value of the game tipping millions into rugby league in France.
If what has been spent propping up the game in France over the last 30 years had been put into the South Pacific then we would just about have finished off rugby's dominance...something that is likely to happen over time...but could be happening right now.
The game is being played in Paris - how convenient for the accompanying gaggle of ARL/NRL officials? But Paris has never been a rugby league stronghold, so crowd "numbers" will be interesting.
I guess, in summary, the game won't really have any impact on France's position. Short of Australia running up a century, nothing will have changed. France is likely to continue what seems to be an inevitable slide into international rugby league oblivion.
And if the French do happen to give the Kangaroos a serious run for their money then our 17 charges should be sent straight to the swabbing stalls!
Digg This!
del.icio.us
Google
StumbleUponYour 2 Cents
charbs
- November 7th, 2009 2:57pmYou are kidding yourself if you expected France to be competitive in their first year in the 4 nations. France were included in the 4 nations as a long term project. In the past 10 years or so, there has been many positives in the french game including a new team in super league, another in a lower english comp. They have managed to improve their local TV deal and are playing a lot more international games. France's value to the international game is worth more than all the pacific islands combined because as we all know the major source of income today is via TV, and France being a 'first world' nation has the potential to generate a lot more revenue for the game than all the islands nations combined (That doesn't mean that we should ignore the pacific islands, but criticism of the french at this stage is certainly not warranted. If you ask me Great Britain have been far more dissapointing on the internations scene over the past 30 years.
Matt S
- November 7th, 2009 2:32pmJeff, no conspiracy theories here with choice of Paris & ARL junkets. The FFR13 have previously stated it needs to host tests in Paris for exposure to the greater French media & funding from the government for projects around the capital. Plain & simple. It was a French choice to have this game in Paris.
RJG
- November 7th, 2009 11:57amJeff: Quite harsh & backward thinking in nature. How do you expect them to do well when they were raped and pillages by the FRU? The same sort of thinking could be applied to Melbourne if it weren't performing?
Peter Vergotis
- November 7th, 2009 2:22amBefore Les Catalans you were right . Now you are wrong. If Toulose can enter Super League in the next few years then anything can happen. Against England they were leading at half time. Against NZ they were down by 4 into the second half. By the way they had half the side out. A second team in Super League would make a huge difference.
Kiddy
- November 7th, 2009 8:02pmI, too, am perplexed that this game is being played in the capital. Maybe they think there'll be a few Aussies in town. Certainly the venue does not seem to have been selected to benefit the majority of French followers of the game. One other thing, I'm interested in what has been spent on propping up RL in France over the past 30 years, and by whom. You make statements like this, you should back them up with some details.