Marc Lièvremont (born 28 October 1968) is a former

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

footballer and was the head coach of the French national rugby union team. He played as a back-row forward for

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, gaining 25

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from 1995 to 1999, and was selected in France's

1999 Rugby World Cup The 1999 Rugby World Cup () was the fourth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial international rugby union championship. It was the first Rugby World Cup to be held in the sport's History of rugby union#The professional era, professional era. Four a ...

squad. He also played with the French

Rugby Sevens Rugby sevens (commonly known simply as sevens, and originally seven-a-side rugby) is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves. R ...

team and with the French Barbarians. Born 28 October 1968 in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

, Senegal to a military father from the

Franche-Comté Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou dialect, Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; ; also ; ; all ) is a cultural and Provinces of France, historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of France, departments of Doub ...

and a mother from

Lorraine Lorraine, also , ; ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; ; ; is a cultural and historical region in Eastern France, now located in the administrative region of Grand Est. Its name stems from the medieval kingdom of ...

, he was raised in Argelès-sur-Mer 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

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

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, France' ...

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

Perpignan Perpignan (, , ; ; ) is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales departments of France, department in Southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the Me ...

Stade Français Stade Français Paris (known commonly as Stade Français, ) is a French professional rugby union club based in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The club plays in the Top 14 domestic league in France and is one of the most successful French ...

(

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 National Rugby League (France), France National Rugby League, also ...

), 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 Iparralde, Basque city of Biarritz in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Pyrénées-Atlantiques department of Nouvelle-Aquitaine ...

. After retiring from rugby, Lièvremont turned to coaching at US Dax, whom he guided to promotion to the

in 2007. In a surprise move,

French Rugby Federation The French Rugby Federation (, ; 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 professional leagues. History Before the FFR ...

president Bernard Lapasset, 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 The 2007 Rugby World Cup () was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by F ...

, replacing Bernard Laporte. As assistants, former French teammate Émile Ntamack 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 The 2010 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2010 RBS 6 Nations due to sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 11th series of the Six Nations Championship and the 116th international championship, an annual rugby union competition b ...

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 The 2011 Rugby World Cup, was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The World Rugby, International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japa ...

, he guided France to the

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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, 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

* 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 20th-century French sportsmen France international rugby union players Rugby union flankers Biarritz Olympique players Sportspeople from Dakar US Dax coaches France national rugby union team coaches Rugby union players from Pyrénées-Orientales USA Perpignan players French rugby union coaches Stade Français Paris players 1999 Rugby World Cup players