Who is Thomas Darracq: Ten things you should know about the France coach

France changed their coaching structure just a few months before the 2022 Rugby World Cup, with Thomas Darracq being promoted to head coach.

Ten things you should know about Thomas Darracq

1. Thomas Darracq was a scrum-half or fly-half during his playing days.

2. He moved around the South-West of France as a player. Originally from Hagetmau in the Landes region, he later played for the youth teams at Bègles and Mont-de-Marsan and in Fédérale One for Peyrehorade-Saint Sever.

3. Coaching-wise, he started out at Pays Médoc, taking the team from the French regional divisions into the third tier.

4. He then worked as a strength and conditioning coach with the French federation for seven years.

5. During that time he worked with the France women’s team from 2010 to 2014. They won a Grand Slam in 2014 before coming third at the World Cup on home soil later that year.

6. He later spent three years at Bayonne, where he headed up the academy, before returning to the FFR.

7. Darracq took over from Annick Hayraud as the selector/coach of the women’s side after the 2022 Six Nations.

8. His back-room team for the 2022 World Cup included Hayraud as manager as well as two new recruits.

Former skipper Gaëlle Mignot came in to oversee the scrum and contact area while David Ortiz took charge of the defence and lineout.

9. Darracq’s vision of rugby is a sport where the team takes priority over the individual. The aim is to apply pressure with the boot and hands, trying to read space while also winning collisions.

10. He studied sports psychology at the University of Bordeaux.

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