Saturday 28 February 2015 21:53, UK
Philippe Saint-Andre has slammed his France team’s sloppy play in their 20-13 defeat to Wales at the Stade de France.
A try from Dan Biggar and the ever-reliable goalkicking of Leigh Halfpenny saw Wales record their fourth straight Six Nations win over France with the France head coach acknowledging that his side were simply not good enough on the day.
He took particular exception to the way his side gifted Halfpenny kicking opportunities by giving away needless penalties.
"Even if we tried to do things, we took too long to get our game going. You can't spend your time defending in international rugby," Saint-Andre said.
"The only thing we can do now is lift our heads and work. We were lacking too much to win the game today. We gave away incredibly stupid penalties."
With the World Cup now just a matter of months away the former Sale supremo admitted that France lacked the pragmatism required and cannot be considered ‘a great team’ at present.
"You can't say we're a great team at the moment. Some of our players struggle to last 80 minutes and we know that," he added.
"You have to congratulate Wales. They were pragmatic, and we're not at the moment."
