Philippe Saint-André

Rugby player
Philippe Saint-André
Birth namePhilippe Georges Saint-André
Date of birth (1967-04-19) 19 April 1967 (age 57)
Place of birthRomans-sur-Isère, France
Height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight14 st 5 lb (91 kg)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Wing
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
–1988
1988–1997		 US Romanaise
AS Montferrand		 ()
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1997–1999 Gloucester 38 (70)
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1990–1997 France 69 (152)
Coaching career
Years Team
1998–2002
2002–2004
2004–2009
2009–2011
2012–2015
2021–2023		 Gloucester
CS Bourgoin-Jallieu
Sale Sharks
Toulon
France
Montpellier
Correct as of 4 January 2021

Philippe Georges Saint-André ([fi.lip ʒɔʁʒ sɛ̃.t‿ɑ̃.dʁe]; born 19 April 1967) is a former French rugby union footballer and was most recently the manager of Top 14 side Montpellier. He earned 69 test caps for France between 1990 and 1997. His preferred position was wing but he could also play at centre. After retiring, Saint-André has found success as a rugby coach in both England and France. He was serving as director of rugby at Toulon before being announced as the successful candidate for head coach of France from 2011 to 2015. He formally took charge of the national team on 1 December 2011,[1][2] and left his post on 17 October 2015 following a 13–62 loss to New Zealand.

Playing career

Club

Nicknamed Le Goret ("the piglet")[3] for his shuffling style of running, Saint-André began his rugby career at US Romanaise before joining AS Montferrand in 1988. He played with the club until 1997, and while with the club Montferrand appeared in the 1993–94 French Championship final against Toulouse, with Toulouse winning 32–16. In 1997, Saint-André crossed the Channel to join English Premiership club Gloucester and played with them until retiring in 1999.

Country

Saint-André made his test debut as a centre in the famous 12–6 loss to Romania in Auch in May 1990.[4] That loss saw the resignation of the head coach Jacques Fouroux. He started on the wing in France's 28–19 win over Australia during their 1990 tour, which was France's first win in Australia since 1972. He became a constant player under Daniel Dubroca, featuring in all matches of the 1991 Five Nations Championship, scoring 2 tries to be joint top try scorer of the Championship. He was selected for the 1991 Rugby World Cup, playing and starting in every game. Though the 1991 World Cup was and still is France's worst result in the World Cup haven been knocked out in the Quarter-final by England.

He continued to be a constant starter in the French team, even under newly appointed coach Pierre Berbizier. Saint-André started in France's next 17 games, which included the 1993 Five Nations Championship winning campaign. During the 1994 Five Nations Championship, he replaced Olivier Roumat as captain for the final match of the Championship against Scotland, winning 20-12 and scoring a try.[5] He remained as captain for the 1994 New Zealand test series, winning 2–0, which included France's first win over New Zealand since 1986 and their first win in New Zealand since 1979. Towards the end of the second test at Eden Park in Auckland, France were trailing the All Blacks 20–16 and were pinned back deep in their own end by a tactical kick. Saint-André fielded the kick and began a counter-attack that ended in a spectacular try to fullback Jean-Luc Sadourny, securing a memorable 23–20 victory.[6] After the match, Saint-André called the play that led to the winning try "a counter-attack from the end of the world", and it would be permanently enshrined in rugby lore as the "try from the end of the world".[3]

He was captain for the 1995 Rugby World Cup, of which France finished third in the tournament, which included a narrow 19–15 loss to hosts South Africa in the Semi-final, before beating England in the Third-place play-off 19–9. On 11 November 1995, France beat New Zealand for a third consecutive time winning 22–15.

Saint-André was injured for 1997 Five Nations Championship and missed out on France's first Grand Slam victory since 1987. On his return, he started against Italy in the 1995–97 FIRA Trophy final, which saw Italy win 40–32 in Grenoble. This was Italy's first ever win over the French.

Saint-André captained France in 34 test matches, winning 25 of them.

Saint-André's final international appearance was in November 1997 at Parc des Princes against South Africa. The match would also be the last in which Parc des Princes served as France's main venue. Unfortunately for Saint-André, South Africa won the match 52–10.[7] He ended his career as France's second-highest try scorer with 32 tries, a position he held until Vincent Clerc took it in 2012 against Argentina.

Saint-André has a younger brother, Raphaël,[1] who also played club rugby as an outside centre. They played together at Montferrand and briefly at Gloucester. Both brothers participated in the French Championship final and the Challenge Yves du Manoir in 1994.

He is one of six captains to lead his side to a test series win on New Zealand soil, along with Philip J. Nel (1937 Springboks), Trevor Allan (1949 Australia), John Dawes (1971 British Lions), Andrew Slack (1986 Australia) and Johnny Sexton (2022 Ireland).

Coaching career

At Gloucester and Bourgoin, 1999-2004

Saint-André's coaching career began in 1998 when he took up the position of Director of Rugby at Gloucester haven served 2 years there as a player. During his three-year reign, he attracted controversy for, among other things, recruiting a large number of French-based players and coaches.[8] However, he turned Gloucester into one of the best clubs in England. In just his second year in charge, he led Gloucester to third in the table, with 43 points. However, in the 2000–01 season, Gloucester dropped back down the table, finishing in seventh on the table. However, Gloucester did top their pool in the Heineken Cup, where they made it to the semi-final, losing 19–15 to Leicester Tigers, haven beaten Cardiff in the Quarter-final 21–15. In his final season in charge, Gloucester returned to the top four of the table, though, Philippe Saint-André parted ways with the team in February 2002 ahead of schedule.[8][9] He was however responsible for Gloucester winning all their pool matches in the European Challenge Cup, and taking them out of the quarter finals, beating Ebbw Vale 46–11.

He returned to France later that year, acting as head coach for CS Bourgoin-Jallieu. In his debut season, he led Bourgoin to third in their pool during the first round, but was unable to get out of the group stages in the second round of the season. He led Bourgoin to top of the table in the first round of the 2003–04 Top 16 season. But yet again his tenure came to an abrupt end when he was sacked in January 2004 after he admitted that he was a candidate to succeed Steve Hansen as coach of Wales.[10]

At Sale and Toulon, 2004-2011

Two months later, Saint-André again went across the Channel to sign a three-year contract with the Sale Sharks.[9] Unlike at Gloucester, his role as director would be less hands-on and focus more on recruitment and development.[9] While Saint-Andre was in this hands-off recruitment and development role, Sale would enjoy the most successful period in their history so far. In his first season, Sale finished third in the table, which meant they would face London Wasps in the Semi finals, but lost 43–22. Though in May 2005, they won their second European Challenge Cup when they defeated French club Pau 27–3.[11] Almost exactly a year later, after finishing on top of the table during the regular Premiership season, Sale won their first English play-off championship with a 45–20 victory over Leicester at Twickenham.[12] Saint-André was given the opportunity to coach France after the 2007 Rugby World Cup, but turned it down when the French Rugby Federation rejected his request to have Brive coach Laurent Seigne join his staff. and so the job was given to Marc Lièvremont.[13] In the 2007–08 season, Sale made it all the way to the semi-final of the European Challenge Cup, when they lost to Bath 36–14. In December 2008, Saint-André confirmed that he would be standing down as director of rugby at Sale when the season was over.[14] He was succeeded in the role of director by Sale's then head coach Kingsley Jones.[14]

After nearly two months of speculation on where Saint-André would go next, French club Toulon announced that they had signed him as sporting president, starting his duties officially on 1 July 2009.[15] In his first season in charge, Toulon finished second in the table after the regular season, however losing to Clermont 29–35 after extra time in the semi-final. Toulon also made it to the final of the 2009–10 European Challenge Cup, but lost to Cardiff Blues 28–21 at the Stade Vélodrome. In his second and final season in charge, Toulon found themselves back down the table in 8th, with only 15 wins. However, they were only 2 points behind the top 6, who were on 72 points. Toulon made it to the semi-final of the Heineken Cup that season, but lost to Perpignan 29–25.

In August 2011 it was announced that Saint-André would replace Lièvremont as head coach of France after the 2011 Rugby World Cup, thus finishing his tenure with Toulon.[1] Saint-André was present at the club while some big names were signed, the likes of Jonny Wilkinson, Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe, Felipe Contepomi and Pierre Mignoni.

Coach of France, 2012-2015

Although the French reached the final of the 2011 World Cup, their campaign would also be remembered for the disharmony that marred relations between Marc Lièvremont and the players.[16] In light of this, Saint-André's immediate priorities were to restore clear and open communication between players and management, and to restore pride to the image of French rugby:[17]

"The players must also accept that the France team is the window to French rugby and the image and message we send is important. Many youngsters take up the game because of what they see in the team and inspirational players like Thierry Dusautoir, and we must make sure this image is always good. I have spoken to all the players, individually, about these things".[18]

He also tried to persuade the French Rugby Federation to fall in line with the Home Unions and allow France a full two weeks to prepare for the Six Nations.[18] Unlike the Home Unions, French players are still required to play for their clubs on every other weekend.

Saint-André's first game in charge of Les Bleus was against Italy at Stade de France on 4 February 2012, which France won 30–12.[19] However, after a draw against Ireland and then losses to England and Wales, France finished the 2012 Six Nations Championship in fourth place. In June 2012, France drew their test series with Argentina, 1–all, haven lost the first test 23–20, but won the second test 49–10, which was France's first win in Argentina since 1998. During their 2012 November campaign, France won all 3 tests, which included a 33–6 win over Australia, which ended Australia's 7-year long winning streak against France.

In the 2013 Six Nations Championship, France lost their first three games, 18–23 against Italy, 6–16 against Wales and 13–23 against England. The team managed a draw, 13–13, against Ireland in Dublin and a last day 23–16 win against Scotland to finish the championship in last place.[20] This was the first time that France picked up the wooden spoon in the Six Nations, but the last time they had finished last was during the 1999 Five Nations Championship. France later went on to lose 3–0 to New Zealand, during their 2013 tour, which included a 30–0 loss, the first time France has failed to score any points against New Zealand. France did however beat Super Rugby franchise Blues, 38–15, but it was not an official test match. France again lost to New Zealand, 26–19, during their 2013 November campaign, where during that campaign, they only picked up a single victory, coming against Tonga 38–18.

During the 2014 Six Nations Championship, France picked up their first win over England since 2011, beating them 26–24 in the opening week of the Championship. They additionally beat Italy 30–10 and Scotland 19–17. Despite their 27–6 loss to Wales, France was still in contention of winning the title going into the final week. However, due to England's 52–11 win over Italy in the first game of the final day, France needed to beat Ireland by more than 70 points to secure the title, but Ireland won the game 20–22 to claim the title. In June of that year, France lost their second consecutive test series, losing to Australia 3–0 during their 2014 Tour. They lost the first test 50–23, before narrowly losing the second test 6–0, which was the first time France had failed to score any points against the Wallabies. The third test was a 39–13 win to Australia. France did gain some revenge during their 2014 November campaign, when they beat Australia 29–26, though they later went on to lose to Argentina for the first time on home soil since 2007, 18–13.

Philippe Saint-André led France to fourth in the 2015 Six Nations Championship for the second consecutive year. Their only wins came against Scotland 15–8, and Italy 29–0. The Italian win, was France's first win over Italy in Italy, since 2009. Like in 2014, France were still in contention ton win the title, but they needed Wales and Ireland to lose their respective matches and for France to beat England. However none of these scenarios happened, which meant France finished fourth. On 31 May 2015, it was announced that Philippe Saint-André would be replaced by Guy Novès after the 2015 Rugby World Cup.[21]

During France's Rugby World Cup Warm-ups, France earned a narrow 25–20 victory over England in Paris, though had lost the return fixture in London 19–14. Their final Warm-up saw France beat Scotland 19–16. During the 2015 Rugby World Cup, it was reported that the players launched a "mutiny" against Philippe Saint-André following France's 24–9 loss to Ireland.[22] It was reported that the players coached themselves in the lead up to their quarter-final clash with New Zealand, which saw the end to Saint-André's tenure with France, following a record defeat of 62–13 in Cardiff.

International matches as head coach

Note: World Rankings column shows the World Ranking Wales was placed at on the following Monday after each of their matches.

Matches (2012–2015)
Matches Date Opposition Venue Score
(Fra.–Opponent) 		Competition Captain World Ranking
2012
1 4 February  Italy Stade de France, Saint-Denis 30–12 Six Nations Thierry Dusautoir 3rd
2 26 February  Scotland Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 23–17 3rd
3 4 March  Ireland Stade de France, Saint-Denis 17–17 4th
4 11 March  England Stade de France, Saint-Denis 22–24 6th
5 17 March  Wales Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 9–16 6th
6 16 June  Argentina Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes, Córdoba 20–23 Argentine test series Pascal Papé 7th
7 23 June Estadio José Fierro, Tucumán 49–10 5th
8 10 November  Australia Stade de France, Saint-Denis 33–6 Autumn internationals 4th
9 17 November  Argentina Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille 39–22 4th
10 24 November  Samoa Stade de France, Saint-Denis 22–14 4th
2013
11 3 February  Italy Stadio Olimpico, Rome 18–23 Six Nations Pascal Papé 5th
12 9 February  Wales Stade de France, Saint-Denis 6–16 Thierry Dusautoir 5th
13 23 February  England Twickenham Stadium, London 13–23 5th
14 9 March  Ireland Aviva Stadium, Dublin 13–13 6th
15 16 March  Scotland Stade de France, Saint-Denis 23–16 6th
16 8 June  New Zealand Eden Park, Auckland 13–23 New Zealand test series 6th
17 15 June Rugby League Park, Christchurch 0–30 5th
18 22 June Yarrow Stadium, New Plymouth 9–24 5th
19 9 November  New Zealand Stade de France, Saint-Denis 19–26 Autumn internationals 5th
20 16 November  Tonga Stade Océane, Le Havre 38–18 5th
21 23 November  South Africa Stade de France, Saint-Denis 10–19 6th
2014
22 1 February  England Stade de France, Saint-Denis 26–24 Six Nations Pascal Papé 5th
23 9 February  Italy Stade de France, Saint-Denis 30–10 5th
24 21 February  Wales Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 6–27 7th
25 8 March  Scotland Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 19–17 5th
26 15 March  Ireland Stade de France, Saint-Denis 20–22 7th
27 7 June  Australia Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane 23–50 Australian test series Nicolas Mas 7th
28 14 June Etihad Stadium, Melbourne 0–6 Thierry Dusautoir 7th
29 21 June Allianz Stadium, Sydney 13–39 7th
30 8 November  Fiji Stade Vélodrome, Marseille 40–15 Autumn internationals 6th
31 15 November  Australia Stade de France, Saint-Denis 29–26 6th
32 22 November  Argentina Stade de France, Saint-Denis 13–18 7th
2015
33 7 February  Scotland Stade de France, Saint-Denis 15–8 Six Nations Thierry Dusautoir 7th
34 14 February  Ireland Aviva Stadium, Dublin 11–18 7th
35 28 February  Wales Stade de France, Saint-Denis 13–20 7th
36 15 March  Italy Stadio Olimpico, Rome 29–0 7th
37 21 March  England Twickenham Stadium, London 35–55 7th
38 15 August  England Twickenham Stadium, London 14–19 2015 RWC warm-ups Pascal Papé 7th
39 22 August Stade de France, Saint-Denis 25–20 7th
40 5 September  Scotland Stade de France, Saint-Denis 19–16 Thierry Dusautoir 7th
41 19 September  Italy Twickenham Stadium, London, England 32–10 2015 Rugby World Cup 7th
42 23 September  Romania Olympic Stadium, London, England 38–11 Dimitri Szarzewski 7th
43 1 October  Canada Stadium mk, Milton Keynes, England 41–18 Thierry Dusautoir 6th
44 11 October  Ireland Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales 9–24 7th
45 11 October  New Zealand Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales 13–62 7th

Record by country

Opponent Played Won Drew Lost Win ratio (%) For Against
 Argentina 4 2 0 2 50% 121 73
 Australia 5 2 0 3 40% 98 127
 Canada 1 1 0 0 100% 41 18
 England 6 2 0 4 33.33% 135 165
 Fiji 1 1 0 0 100% 40 15
 Ireland 5 0 2 3 0% 70 94
 Italy 5 4 0 1 80% 139 55
 New Zealand 5 0 0 5 0% 54 165
 Romania 1 1 0 0 100% 38 11
 Samoa 1 1 0 0 100% 22 14
 Scotland 5 5 0 0 100% 99 74
 South Africa 1 0 0 1 0% 10 19
 Tonga 1 1 0 0 100% 38 18
 Wales 4 0 0 4 0% 34 79
TOTAL 45 20 2 23 44.44% 939 927

Honours

Other honors

Sale Sharks

Toulon

Montpellier

References

  1. ^ a b c "Philippe Saint-André to become France coach after World Cup". The Guardian. Reuters. 25 August 2011. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
  2. ^ "Philippe SAINT-ANDRÉ". rugbyconnection.com. Archived from the original on 23 June 2012. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  3. ^ a b Averis, Mike (3 February 2012). "Six Nations 2012: Philippe Saint-André finally takes control of France". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
  4. ^ France v Romania at Auch, 24 May 1990 ESPNscrum
  5. ^ Scotland v France at Murrayfield, 19 March 1994 ESPNscrum
  6. ^ New Zealand v France at Eden Park, 3 July 1994 ESPNscrum
  7. ^ France v South Africa at Paris, 22 November 1997 ESPNscrum
  8. ^ a b Wildman, Rob (19 February 2002). "Saint-Andre bids adieu". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 6 February 2012.
  9. ^ a b c Rees, Paul (6 March 2004). "Saint-André signed to build Sale talent base". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 February 2012.
  10. ^ "Bad night all way for Saint-Andre". The Daily Telegraph. London. 26 January 2004. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
  11. ^ "Sale romp to Challenge Cup win". RTÉ Sport. 21 May 2005. Retrieved 6 February 2012.
  12. ^ Cone, James (27 May 2006). "Sale Beats Leicester in Playoff to Claim English Rugby Title". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 6 February 2012.
  13. ^ Cleary, Mick (3 February 2012). "Six Nations 2012: France coach Philippe Saint-Andre brings a dash of English to French culture". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
  14. ^ a b Hewett, Chris (5 December 2008). "Saint-André calls time on Sale spell". The Independent. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
  15. ^ "Saint-Andre to join Toulon". The Independent. 26 January 2009. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
  16. ^ "DISCIPLINE KEY FOR SAINT-ANDRE". Sporting Life. 25 January 2012. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
  17. ^ Aylwin, Michael (28 January 2012). "Philippe Saint-André to marry English consistency with French flair". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 February 2012.
  18. ^ a b Gallagher, Brendan (28 January 2012). "Six Nations 2012: Philippe Saint-Andre promises to bring honour and merit back to fractured France". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
  19. ^ "France start campaign with a win". ESPNscrum. 4 February 2012. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
  20. ^ "France finish with Six Nations wooden spoon despite win over Scotland". The Guardian. 16 March 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  21. ^ "Guy Noves confirmed as next France head coach". ESPNscrum. 31 May 2015. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
  22. ^ Aarons, Ed (15 October 2015). "France players 'launch mutiny' against coach Philippe Saint-André – reports". The Guardian.

External links

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