Former Great Britain scrum-half Bobbie Goulding was today appointed as national coach of France.
The 37-year-old Goulding, who enjoyed a glorious career with St Helens, takes over from Australian John Monie, whose contract was not renewed after France’s disastrous performance at the World Cup in November.
Widnes-born Goulding, who has been out of a job since being sacked by Rochdale last May, was unveiled by the French Federation at a press conference in Paris.
His first match in charge will be the mid-season international against England, which is due to be played in Paris on June 13, and his first big test will come in the new-look Four Nations tournament in the autumn.
France, who ignominiously collected the wooden spoon from the 10-team World Cup after winning just one game, will have home advantage against Australia and New Zealand as Goulding seeks to turn around their fortunes.
Goulding is the second Englishman to coach France, following in the footsteps of current Wakefield boss John Kear who was briefly in charge of Les Tricolours in 1997.
The colourful Goulding, who won 17 Great Britain caps from 1990-97 and was England’s scrum-half in the 1995 World Cup, led St Helens to the inaugural Super League crown in 1996 and helped mastermind their back-to-back Challenge Cup successes at Wembley in 1996 and 1997.
He also played for Wigan, Leeds, Widnes, Huddersfield, Wakefield, Salford, Leigh, Rochdale and Australian side Eastern Suburbs, formerly Sydney Roosters.[/b]
