"Like all good soap sagas, the search for a national team coach to follow Bernard Laporte had a twist in the tail." Huw Richards reports

It was, said French rugby weekly Midi Olympique last week, becoming like a soap opera. And like all good soap sagas, the search for a national team coach to follow Bernard Laporte had a twist in the tail.

The name announced on Wednesday by French Rugby Federation president Bernard Lapasset was not Fabien Galthie, Philippe St Andre, Guy Noves or any of the other well-touted and evidently qualified names discussed over the past few weeks. Marc Lievremont, 38, is the successor, with Emile Ntamack and Didier Retiere as his assistants.

That one fellow-journalist should have commented, when Lievremont's candidature became known 'isn't he still playing?' was not unreasonable. He isn't, but his brothers Mathieu and Thomas still are, occupying key back row roles in the Dax team that Marc guided to promotion back into the TOP14 after a five year absence last season.

Ntamack had been the one consistent element in the various stories published in the French press over the last few weeks, and is elevated along from the under 21s along with former prop forward Retiere.

While much has been made in France of the youth of the new coaching team - Ntamack is only 37 - Lievremont is actually three years older than Laporte was when he was appointed in 1999. It does, though, represent a shift of generations.

In 1999 the Federation was keen to catch the wave represented by the Stade Francais club, who had risen from decades of obscurity to dominance of the club game inside a few years, with impetus provided by Max Guazzini's money. So they appointed Stade's coach, Laporte.

The key element in the new group's experience is that they were responsible for the French team who won the under 21 World Cup in 2006. Only Lionel Beauxis of that group made it into the World Cup squad, but many more are sure to follow and Lapasset said that he and the other members of the selection panel liked the idea that the new coaching team will have first-hand knowledge of France's rising generation of players.

While Lievremont was a top-class player, winning 23 caps as a back-row forward, he has never coached at TOP 14 level. That duck was due to be broken on Friday night as Dax opened the new season at home to Toulouse. Lievremont said his one real regret about taking the France job, which he described as 'a sacred trust' was that he would not 'take part in the adventure' of the coming season alongside his brothers.

The appointment is widely seen as a political victory for the technical staff of the federation and in particular director Jean-Claude Skrela, who was known not to be keen on Galthie. Lapasset said the first contact had been made with Lievremont a month ago, but nothing had been said during the World Cup as they had to wait for his answer and an announcement, with its accompanying debate, would have been a distraction during the tournament.

He described Lievremont as modest, charming, thoughtful rather than expansive and a team-player who did not dive into projects by himself. Gilbert Ponteins, president of Dax, portrayed him as someone who 'does not leave you a peaceful moment', full of ideas and possessing both vision and charisma.

Lievremont said he had not applied for the job and had been surprised when contacted by Lapasset. He declared a preference for attacking rugby, while accepting that the World Cup had shown that it is not always successful. But he argued 'The New Zealand style can still win. This does not mean that we should copy it, but that we should look for something which suits us'. He was also impressed by Australia in the opening stages, but put their quarter-final defeat down to 'failure in the basics of the game, which are not negotiable'.

Lievremont will sign a four-year contract, likely to be for a considerably larger amount - close to £300,000 a year according to reports in the French press - than the £65,000 a year which was reported to be Laporte's salary. Laporte blamed his salary for his need to seek endorsements and advertising contracts - and the French Federation are keen that there should be no repetition.