Serge Betsen assesses France's chances in the upcoming Six Nations Championship
Thursday 5 February 2015 15:42, UK
Serge Betsen was known for his total commitment to every team for which he played, and his ability to inspire others around him.
Pride is always a feature of French rugby, as it is for all the countries taking part in the Six Nations, but surprisingly the former flanker is just as passionate about the rest of the northern hemisphere realising their potential.
Betsen had a stint with Wasps following his international retirement and says if the Top 14 applied the same model as the Aviva Premiership, they would cope better internationally.
Now 40, Betsen won the last of his 63 France caps against England in the 2007 World Cup semi-final, and he will be watching intently as France prepare for the start of an important year.
"I hope France are going to play to their potential," Betsen told Sky Sports. "We saw them playing really well in parts of the November internationals, which has given good exposure to the young talent in the team such as Teddy Thomas and Camille Lopez.
"Lopez has played well for Clermont this season so far and I believe he will be one of the stand-out players for the French team.
"The question is, how will France cope with the injury to Sebastien Tillous-Borde?"
Challenge
Though the classic encounter for any French rugby player is the England game – France's final fixture in this year's campaign – Betsen says his countrymen will do well to prepare thoroughly for the visit of Scotland on Saturday.
"The Scotland game scares me a little bit,” he said. “We've seen since Vern Cotter took over at Scotland that they seem to be playing really well, particularly in November.
"He also knows French rugby after coaching Clermont for 10 years. My concern is how we are going to cope with that challenge because last year in Scotland we only won in the last minute, so we need to be careful.
"We need to start well and I hope that will be the case because we are looking towards the future. This is a good opportunity to build to the World Cup.
"I can't see the French team getting the Grand Slam because they are travelling in three of their fixtures, including the last game in London. It's going to be a tough tournament.
I can't see the French team getting the Grand Slam because they are travelling in three of their fixtures, including the last game in London. It's going to be a tough tournament.
“I don't think any of the teams will win the Grand Slam because it's a World Cup year and players will be focusing more on the World Cup than the Six Nations."
France has always been able to call upon a talented squad, but the players often do not gel well together. The reason for this, says Betsen, is that players are being poorly managed between club and country.
Though he is happy with the strength of the Top 14, he feels the end goal should be for France to have a team that can challenge in the international arena.
"It's always a difficult situation between the French Rugby Federation and the league – that's one of the reasons French teams of the past have struggled," said the former Biarritz captain.
"We need to give players an opportunity to relax and to stay focused. It's the players who are blamed for poor performances but they are left to deal with the stress and pressure. We need to help them manage that stress and pressure. The French team needs to do more to protect the players to help them play to the best of their abilities.
"If you take Louis Picamoles as an example. Last year Philippe Saint-Andre asked the club not to make him play, but he played, and he came back to the French team and didn't play his best in Cardiff – he got sin-binned.
"The question is how the club can be sustainable for the future by developing and using the French talent."
Structure
Betsen feels that the English Premiership has a good structure on which the Top 14 can model itself in order to improve French rugby as a whole.
He added: "The revolution was started by English rugby, where you can see that 40 per cent of the players in the Premiership are English players. That is because of work that the RFU and the Premiership did together to help clubs be sustainable.
"We need to take that experience to help the presidents of the French clubs. Not to protect them but to keep improving the national team so that we can win a World Cup.
"Most of the teams from the Rugby Championship have won the World Cup, and I want the northern hemisphere teams to have that mentality to figure out how to make it happen.
"Take a player like Bryan Habana. He's won every competition that is available to him. We need to understand how we can give a French player the same opportunity to put their name in the record books – with both club and country. To stamp their country's legacy on the sport."
It's not just French rugby that Betsen is passionate about. Born in Cameroon, the former Les Bleus captain started a rugby academy in the country of his birth in order to help the community build confidently towards a future. There are five centres across Cameroon, with facilities, teachers and nurses.
"It's not just rugby that we are focusing on, we also focus on the educational and medical needs of the children," said Betsen.
"When I arrived in Clichy nobody knew me but still I was made to feel very welcome. That gave me confidence. That's what I want to give to these children. Help them have a chance to go to school and learn about what they want to do.
"I created the charity 10 years ago and in that time we've helped 500 children across five different centres in Cameroon. I'm really proud of that because it's not just about rugby, it's about life. It's about how we can help each other.
"Rugby gave me strong belief in what I am able to do to help others and I apply that to my academy."
