French rugby captain is in Dalton-Reid mould

Press, 2 May 1984, Page 32

French rugby captain is in Dalton-Reid mould

By

JOHN BROOKS

Justifiably proud of their world ranked hookers, Andy Dalton and Hika Reid, New Zealand rugby supporters will also find plenty to appreciate in the deeds of Philippe Dintrans, who will captain the French team on its antipodean tour in June.

Dintrans is a burly yet mobile hooker who has been entrusted with the leadership of the Tricolours after appearing in 31 tests. His duels with Dalton contributed an absorbing sidelight in the 1981 test series in France, and he is certain to offer a much more substantial scrum challenge to the All Blacks than the Wallabies or the Lions were able to muster in the last two home seasons.

The square-framed Dintrans gave glimpses of a fiery temperament early in his career, but is now much more composed without sacrificing his strong competitive streak. His many pronounced footballing qualities entitle him to be ranked with Dalton and Reid as hookers with much more than just fancy feet in the scrums. Dintrans is from one of the top clubs of the central southern region in France, Tarbes. He was a wide-eyed young recruit in the senior squad in the days when the All Blacks forwards Sandy McNicol and Andy Haden were giving body to the pack. Subsequently, Dintrans succeeded the accomplished Alain Paco as France’s hooker, and was one of nine members of the 1984 side who will be making a second tour of New Zealand. He hooked against Dalton in the 1979 series when the All Blacks won at Christchurch and the Tricolours finally

broke their losing test sequence on New Zealand soil by succeeding at Auckland.

At international level, Dintrans has been associated with some of the most celebrated French forwards of post war years, notably Jean-Pierre Rives, Robert Paparemborde, and JeanLuc Joinel. Of this trio, Joinel alone remains in service and Dintrans finds himself as the second most experienced member of the side.

Because of the uncertainty of obtaining leave from his employer, and the problems associated with an ankle injury, Joinel’s participation in the tour is said to be in doubt. However, the likelihood is that the lanky loose forward will not only make the trip, but once again create difficulties for opposing teams. He had a superb tour in 1979, and his combination with Rives gave France a big say in the securing and distribution of second place possession. In addition, he gives some semblance of respect to France’s line-out play. Joinel, a member of the Brive club in central France, played in the Toulouse test against the All Blacks in 1977, taking the place of an injured Rives. But a gashed head suffered in that vigorous game put him out of the running for the second international of that series, in Paris. He has continued to play a dominant role in French rugby since the retirement of Rive’s original partners in the back row, Jean-

Claude Skrela and JeanPierre Bastiat, and now has accumulated 34 caps — 17 at No 8 and 17 as a flanker. He was in both tests against the 1981 All Blacks. As well as Dintrans and Joinel, seven other members of the side to tour New Zealand were also here in 1979. They are Daniel Dubroca (prop), Francis Haget (lock), Jerome Gallion (halfback), Guy Laporte (first five-eighths), Laurent Pardo and Didier Cordoniou (centres) and Serge Blanco (wing or full-back).

Another member of the side, Pierre Dospital, was a reserve for France against the 1977 All Blacks, but did not have a happy match when he played against Graham Mourie’s men at Agen. He failed to hold Brad Johnstone in the scrums, and was later clouted by Frank Oliver for stomping on a New Zealand forward. The French side is not nearly as formidable in the forwards as it was eight years ago, when it dominated the Five Nations championship. Haget, who earns a living as a croupier at the Biarritz casino, is probably still the leading lock, but he is more of a spoiler of the other side’s possession than a genuine ball winner. He is one of five forwards in the side who are aged 30 or older. There will also be five forwards aged 27, so the pack will bear a seasoned appearance. But there will be a general appreciation of New Zealand forward play among the tourists. Dintrans, Joinel and Dubroca

played in the tests in 1979 and 1981 against the All Blacks, and three other forwards, Alain Lorieux (lock), Dominique Erbani (No 8), and Laurent Rodriguez (flanker), participated in the latter series. Dubroca and Erbani are both members of the central French club of Agen, whose highly successful senior team has embraced New Zealand-style rucking.

It is in the backs that France will trouble the All Blacks most. Gallion is a brilliantly inventive halfback, a ball distributor, daring runner and tactician in the Dave Loveridge mould. Cordoniou is well remembered for his impudent attacking in the 1979 tour, and he will be joined on this tour by a second sharp running centre in Philippe Sella, another Agen product. There will be plenty of speed and flair in the attacking play of Blanco and the top wing, Patrick Esteve. They are spectacular runners, adept at swerving away from tackles and outsprinting all but the most alert cover defence. Their defensive qualities, however, cannot be spoken of in the same breath. France has not neglected its goal-kicking requirements, and in Jean-Patrick Lescarboura New Zealand rugby followers will see a relentless scorer who has put Barry John, Dusty Hare and Ollie Campbell in the shade. In the Five Nations games this year Lescarboura broke Campbell’s record by scoring 54 points in the four internationals. Although he moves rather ponderously, the big first five-eighths has a long, flat pass and a sound tactical sense. He toured New Zealand with the Cote Basque

side in 1981 and later the same year was injured in playing against the All Blacks in La Rochelle. His fellow five-eighths, Laporte, was the leading goal-kicker for the Tricolours in New Zealand in 1979 and later played against the 1981 All Blacks in both tests. He kicked 29 points in three of the Five Nations games that year, but was later dropped after playing listlessly against New Zealand. Both Lescarboura and Laporte are long distance dropped goal specialists, as well as highly accurate place kickers, and the dropped goal is also a form of scoring favoured by the fourth of the Agen men in the side, Bernard Vivies. He has been on the French scene for a long time, playing for provincial selections against both the 1977 and 1981 All Blacks and being the regular first five-eighths in the 1978 Five Nations championship. But his international appearances have been spasmodic since then, and he now doubles as a full-back as well as a five-eighths. This will be the fourth French rugby tour of New Zealand, and one member of the touring party will have been on three of them. He is Jean Pique, a threequarter in the 1961 side, and assistant coach this year and in 1979. Mr Pique is an advocate of running rugby, a man who believes that 14 players should combine their efforts to place the fifteenth in the clear for a try. If his coaching colleague, Jacques Fouroux — a former French captain and halfback — is of a like mind, the tour is bound to bubble along merrily.