Marc Lièvremont (born 28 October 1968) is a former

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

footballer and was the head coach of the

French national rugby union team The France national rugby union team () represents France in men's international rugby union and it is administered by the French Rugby Federation. They traditionally play in blue shirts emblazoned with the national emblem of a golden rooster ...

. He played as a back-row forward for

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, gaining 25

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

from 1995 to 1999, and was selected in France's 1999 Rugby World Cup squad. He also played with the French Rugby Sevens team and with the

French Barbarians The Barbarian Rugby Club, more commonly known as the French Barbarians, is a rugby union team formed in 1979 and based in France. It was founded as an amateur invitational team modeled on the Barbarian F.C. From the start of the 2017–18 season, ...

. Born 28 October 1968 in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from :wo:daqaar, daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar ...

, Senegal to a military father from the Franche-Comté and a mother from

Lorraine Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gra ...

, he was raised in

Argelès-sur-Mer Argelès-sur-Mer (, literally ''Argelès on Sea''; ca, Argelers de la Marenda or ; oc, Argelers de Mar), commonly known as Argelès, is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in the administrative region of Occitania, France. It i ...

with his six younger brothers and one younger sister who all play or played rugby at different high levels. Two are or have been international rugby players:

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(who was also part of France's 1999 Rugby World Cup squad and is now coach of

Dax Dax or DAX may refer to: Business and organizations * DAX, stock market index of the top 40 German companies ** DAX 100, an expanded index of 100 stocks, superseded by the HDAX ** TecDAX, stock index of the top 30 German technology firms * Dax ...

) and Matthieu. The only girl of the family, Claire, was a semi-professional, winning a French Championship with

Toulouges Toulouges (; ca, Toluges, ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Geography Toulouges is located between Thuir and Perpignan, in the canton of Perpignan-6 and in the arrondissement of Perpignan. The town c ...

in 2005. The two younger twins, Pierre and Luc are also playing for l' Avenir Castanéen, a

Fédérale 2 Fédérale 2 is a rugby union club championship division in France. It is the sixth division of rugby above Fédérale 3. Teams can earn promotion to Fédérale 1, and subsequently, to the National 2 and Nationale leagues, and on to the professi ...

side (4th Division), as a centre and openside flanker respectively. Finally, François used to play for

USA Perpignan Union Sportive Arlequins Perpignanais, also referred to as USA Perpignan or Perpignan, is a French professional rugby union club founded in 1933 and based in Perpignan, in the Pyrénées-Orientales department. They compete in the Top 14, Franc ...

, during the 1990s. Lièvremont began his rugby career with amateur club Étoile sportive catalane. He then played for Perpignan, Stade Français (

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

), in 1998 and 2000, as well as

Biarritz Olympique Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque (; ), usually known simply as Biarritz, is a French professional rugby union team based in the Basque city of Biarritz, Nouvelle-Aquitaine which competes in the Pro D2, the second division of French rugby. Biarritz p ...

. After retiring from rugby, Lièvremont turned to coaching at

US Dax Union sportive dacquoise, also known as US Dax, is a French rugby union club currently playing in Nationale, the third level of the French league system. They were founded in 1904. They play at Stade Maurice Boyau (capacity 16,170). They wear ...

, whom he guided to promotion to the

in 2007. In a surprise move,

French Rugby Federation The French Rugby Federation (french: Fédération Française de Rugby (''FFR'')) is the governing body for rugby union in France. It is responsible for the French national team and the Ligue nationale de rugby that administers the country's profe ...

president

Bernard Lapasset Bernard Lapasset (born 20 October 1947) is a French rugby administrator who was Chairman of the World Rugby from 2008 to 2016. He previously served as President of the French Federation of Rugby Union from 1991 to May 2008, when Pierre Camou, ...

, who is now chairman of the IRB, appointed Lièvremont as the new head coach of the French national side after the 2007 Rugby World Cup, replacing

Bernard Laporte Bernard Laporte (born 1 July 1964) is a rugby player, coach and former French Secretary of State for Sport. From 1999 to 2007, Laporte was the head coach of the France national team. In 2011, he became the head coach at Toulon, after Philippe Sa ...

. As assistants, former French teammate

Émile Ntamack Émile "Milou" Ntamack (born 25 June 1970) is a French former rugby union footballer. He played professionally for Stade Toulousain and France, winning 46 caps. Ntamack made his French debut against Wales during the 1994 Five Nations Championshi ...

was appointed to coach the backs, while Didier Retière was nominated as the new forwards coach. In 2010 Lièvremont coached France to win the 2010 Six Nations Championship and Grand Slam beating England 12–10. The following year, however, pressure began to mount on him after Six Nation losses to England 17–9 and Italy 22–21 – the latter of which was the first time Italy had beaten France, and came after France had led by twelve points with twenty minutes remaining and the next week France beat Wales 28–9. At the 2011 Rugby World Cup, he guided France to the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

where they played hosts

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, losing 8-7 after a very well played game. Lièvremont branded a section of his squad "spoilt brats" after he discovered some players went out to celebrate the semi-final win against Wales. He also did not make an appearance for the after-match interview, sending his assistant instead. However, veteran back-rower

Imanol Harinordoquy Imanol Harinordoquy, . (born 20 February 1980) is a French former rugby union player. He typically played as a number 8 for Stade Toulousain at club level in the Top 14 and for France internationally. Before signing with Biarritz ahead of the 2 ...

, who publicly criticized Lièvremont during the tournament for browbeating the team in the media, indicated after the tournament that the team had rebelled against him after the pool stage, and had effectively managed themselves in the knockout rounds.

Honours

Stade Français * French Rugby Union Championship/Top 14: 1997–98

Notes and references

External links

Statistics at scrum.comPhoto sporting-heroes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lievremont, Marc 1968 births Living people French rugby union players France international rugby union players Rugby union flankers Biarritz Olympique players Sportspeople from Dakar US Dax coaches France national rugby union team coaches Sportspeople from Pyrénées-Orientales USA Perpignan players French rugby union coaches Stade Français players