French get full value from Ellis

Dave Ellis, once a Yorkshire coal miner and fully paid-up member of Arthur Scargill's NUM, was in no mood to rest on his laurels as France's defence coach, despite the Six Nations champions shutting England out in successive Tests. 'Wales will always cause problems because they play with plenty of width,' said Ellis last night. 'We've been looking at them since first thing this morning.'

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If the defensive system holds up in Cardiff on Sunday as well as it did at Twickenham, France will stride into their own World Cup all the stronger for the tactical input of a middle-aged man who used the money from his redundancy to finance a nomadic rugby education in both codes.

Ellis, a Yorkie for whom Geoffrey Boycott has replaced Freddie Trueman as the greatest living Yorkshireman, would never have got where he is today had he not broken one of the White Rose county's golden rules - nowt for owt.

Bernard Laporte had negotiated an uncomfortable first year as France coach when his mentor, the late Jacques Fouroux, suggested he could do worse than talk to Ellis. 'I'd worked with Jacques when he ran the Paris St- Germain rugby league side and then again in union at the Racing Club,' he said. 'When Bernard offered me a job, he said: "There's only one drawback - I don't have a budget. You will be working for nothing but if you prove yourself to me and to the president, I will make sure you are rewarded".

'Almost straightaway, I said: "I'll work for nothing and back myself to prove my value". I managed to prove my point and within 12 months we had won the Grand Slam. I didn't get any back-pay but we came to an agreement with a salary for the four months' work I have done every year since.'

Ironically, the 50-year-old who has become a trusted member of Laporte's inner cabinet comes from Loxley, a place named after one of the most famous heroes of English folklore, Robin Hood.

Ellis claims he lost his last job at home, with Gloucester, because of the consultative work he did for Graham Henry in New Zealand, helping the All Blacks head coach plot his defensive strategy for the rout of the Lions two years ago.

'My contract was terminated with two years still to run,' he said. 'I'd have been very proud to have worked for the Lions had they asked. Graham Henry did ask me and I accepted because not many outsiders get an opportunity like that. I went with Bernard's blessing because it didn't clash with the French tour that summer and there was never any question of giving any secrets away about the French defence.'

In six matches against England, Ellis has been on the losing side just once, at Twickenham in March. 'France are fitter and stronger than they were at the last World Cup,' he said. 'Back then, there was very much a first team and the rest. Now the overall quality is far superior, to the point where there was next to no difference between the XV who won at Twickenham and the different XV who won in Marseille.

'We worked hard on cutting the space down for Jonny Wilkinson and Andy Farrell. We're in good shape but, as a Yorkshireman, I don't get too excited before the big event. England have enough experienced players to make sure they will get to the quarter-finals and I still think they will have a good chance of making the semis.'

As Wales prepare to welcome Shane Williams back from injury, England sent their players home for a 10-day break, while head coach Brian Ashton racked his brain for a rapid cure to the sterility of the back division which plunged the Red Rose brigade into varying states of pre-World Cup depression.

Eddie Jones, the newly-hired Springboks' backs coach, is hardly in any position to offer an objective opinion but the Australian, in London working on his consultancy with Saracens, absolved his club's centre, Farrell, from any blame for Saturday's failure.

Jones said: ' England are playing a certain way and Andy has to operate within that structure. They are not getting the best out of him, which makes the criticism a little unjust. His value is as a player who takes the ball to the line.'