Laporte: Cut Top 14 to boost France
Toulon coach Bernard Laporte, the only candidate for the French Rugby Federation Presidency next year, called for the Top 14 championship to be cut in order to help the national team.
"The Championship has to be cut down to 12 clubs [from 14] and end with a final between the top two in the standings," the former France coach, who won four Six Nations titles between 2002 and 2007," he said.
"That would free up six weeks to prepare the [national] players and put the France team centre stage," Laporte wrote in the weekly Journal du Dimanche.
"Of course this is something for the [National Rugby] League to do, but I would lean in this direction if I were in charge. Recall who is in control: it's the Federation, they delegate powers to the League," said Laporte.
After their heavy 55-35 defeat to England in the Six Nations on Saturday, France finished fourth in this year's competition and have not won the tournament since 2010.
The 50-year-old former French Secretary of State for Sport said that he also wanted to change the way in which the national coach was selected.
"We must move towards more professionalism, leaving this important decision to officials working with the DTN [National Technical Director]."
The manager of French and European champions Toulon also raised concerns over France's training system, which he said remained too amateur, and was getting poorer as the professional world got richer.
"The League and the Federation must agree on a different distribution of TV rights. And the FFR must save money [to redistribute to amateur rugby]."
Laporte also called for the FFR presidency to be reduced to two mandates of four years to allow for more democracy within the organisation.
Laporte is the only declared candidate to succeed current FFR president Pierre Camou, 69, who has held the post since 2008.
Former France international Serge Blanco, the FFR vice-president, had said last month he intended to run before backtracking saying "it was not the right time" to bid.
Agence France-Presse
