Rugby World Cup
France coach Saint-Andre reveals what he said during that half-time dressing down
Tom Hamilton
September 24, 2015
France 38-11 Romania (video available in Australia only)

OLYMPIC STADIUM, London -- Philippe Saint-Andre has revealed what was said at half-time in their game against Romania after a camera in the changing room broadcasted footage of the France coach reading the riot act to his team.

France eventually ran out comfortable 38-11 winners in their match at the Olympic Stadium on Wednesday evening but the first-half saw Les Bleus behind on both possession and territory against underdogs Romania.

The second-half saw France pull away but only after a half-time dressing down from their coach.

"We didn't get more than two phases together [in the first-half]," Saint-Andre said of his half-time tirade. "We knew Romania were a team who would have prepared for the last three months - they were physical in the contact area and we weren't creating enough.

"I told them [France] if the ball carrier was having trouble or if the ball is not thrown properly then it's difficult to play rugby so that's what I was telling them. They had to be efficient in the cleaning out.

France v Romania review
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"Of course we wanted to put more pace on the game but they were very clever and they didn't want more than two or three phases so they were solid we had to wait 30 minutes until we could speed in the game and then we scored five tries. We did change 13 players, its always complicated with a four-day rest period."

It was a case of job done for France who have nine points from their opening two games. Saint-Andre was pleased with the performance and was delighted with winger Sofiane Guitoune's two-try showing.

"When you are a winger the first role is to score tries and he almost got a hat-trick. He was very positive today especially because at Twickenham he wasn't great and he had been preparing for a long time and he did well."

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