France coach Philippe Saint-Andre has defended les Bleus’ trip to New Zealand this summer despite a white-washing at the hands of the All Blacks, claiming it was crucial to long-term progress for his side.
Back at the scene of their narrow World Cup final defeat, France pushed New Zealand close in the opening test in Auckland, going down 23-13, but after that the Kiwis ran away with it, chalking up 30-0 and 24-9 victories.
It capped a turbulent year for France who finished bottom of the RBS 6 Nations after just one victory – against Scotland – but Saint-Andre sees merit in taking on the best in the world.
He said: “If we had wanted to improve our statistics, it would have been better to have gone on a tour of Romania or Fiji.
“It is by playing the best that one improves and makes progress.
“We also were able to look at a lot of players, we blooded seven new caps during the tour.
“In a very long season, I would like to salute the players on their work rate and their physical engagement they put into the three tests.
“The big disappointment is that we are not coming home with a win in any of them. For that I take the responsibility, the statistics are not good.”
