Laporte generous in victory

Laporte was impressed by the way England applauded their conquerors

Bernard Laporte was full of praise for England as he reflected on France's Grand Slam triumph.

The French coach saw his side beat the world champions 24-21 on Saturday to claim their fourth Slam in eight years.

"England were superb in defeat. After the whistle, they stayed on the pitch during the official ceremony, clapping continually for 20 minutes," he said.

"They taught us a great lesson. They still are world champions. I think they still are the best team in the world."

"We won the championship and the Grand Slam, we defeated the world champions... I could say 'mission accomplished'. We reached our objective."

The French coach admitted that before the championship started he did not think France, who lost to England in the World Cup semi-finals, would be capable of winning all their games.

Some of our players are still very young or have little experience Bernard Laporte

"We had to overcome the retirement of Fabien Galthie, our captain and scrum-half, and Raphael Ibanez, our hooker and former captain," said Laporte.

"We also knew that we would have to manage without (centre) Tony Marsh, who was injured.

"If somebody had told me before our first game against Ireland that we would win a Grand Slam, my answer would have been 'this guy is a senile old fool'. Still, we did it."

But although Laporte was delighted to have won the Grand Slam he believes there is more to come from his team, with the 2007 World Cup, which will be held in France, the long-term objective.

"Some of our players are still very young or have little experience. Frederic Michalak is only 21 and has only played in 20 or so internationals, a lot of them as a scrum-half or as a replacement," he said.

"You can't buy experience and maturity at an ironmonger's, you acquire it through match practice.

"We have plenty of time to work on that until the 2007 World Cup"