Jean-Claude Skrela

Who is Jean-Claude Skrela?

Jean-Claude Skrela is a former coach of the French national rugby union team. His son, David Skrela, is a French rugby union player and his daughter, Gaëlle Skrela, is a professional basketball player.

The son of Polish refugees, he played rugby union for Toulouse. He played 46 times for France as a back row forward, culminating in a Five Nations Grand Slam in 1977. He also scored the first four-point try in a major Test match on November 20, 1971, when he charged down a kick from Australian fullback Arthur McGill.

Skrela took over as national team coach from Pierre Berbizier after the 1995 Rugby World Cup. Despite France's historic 43-31 victory over the All Blacks in their World Cup semi-final at Twickenham, Skrela was heavily criticised for his team's performance in the early part of the 1999 World Cup. The French went on to lose the 6 November final to 35-12 Australia - the largest margin of any of the four tournaments to date.

He went on to coach the national side to their first-ever back-to-back Grand Slams in 1997 and 1998, before France slumped to the wooden spoon in 1999.

He resigned and was replaced by Bernard Laporte at the end of 1999.