Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Gaelle Mignot announced as new joint head coach of France Women

By PA
France's flanker Gaelle Mignot warms up ahead of the Women's 6 Nations rugby union match between Scotland and France at the Broadwood Stadium in Cumbernauld, near Glasgow on March 11, 2016. / AFP / NEIL HANNA (Photo credit should read NEIL HANNA/AFP via Getty Images)

Former Grand Slam winner Gaelle Mignot has been announced as the new joint head coach of France alongside David Ortiz.

ADVERTISEMENT

The duo replace Thomas Darracq, who has left the role for family reasons after guiding France to third at the 2021 Rugby World Cup.

Mignot skippered France to Grand Slam victory in the 2014 Women’s Six Nations, scoring two tries against England in their opening game.

Video Spacer

Video Spacer

The hooker also captained France to the title in 2016 and will look to lead them, alongside former Agens defence coach Ortiz, to their first Championship since 2018 when the TikTok Women’s Six Nations returns in March next year.

Darracq had stepped up to become head coach/selector at the end of May having worked in a supporting role during the side’s TikTok Women’s Six Nations 2022 campaign.

France finished second behind England before Darracq took over as head coach, guiding them to four wins and three losses during his tenure.

His first match in charge was a World Cup warm-up match against Italy in Nice which Les Bleues comfortably won 21-0 before tasting defeat a week later as Italy earned revenge with a 26-19 win.

ADVERTISEMENT

At the World Cup, France opened the tournament with a 40-5 win over South Africa before losing 13-7 to England.

They ensured their qualification for the knockout stages with a 44-0 win over Fiji before defeating Italy comprehensively to reach the semi-finals.

There they took on hosts New Zealand, losing 25-24 in the final seconds before bouncing back to defeat Canada 36-0 and ensure they finished third for the seventh time at a World Cup, also securing third in the world rankings.

Ortiz and Mignot joined Darracq’s coaching staff before the tournament in New Zealand with Mignot focusing on scrums and contact areas while Ortiz oversaw the defence and lineout.

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

O
Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING Everyone is saying the same thing after agonising England loss Everyone is saying the same thing after agonising England loss
Search