France coach Marc Lievremont admitted to experiencing "a bitter taste" despite seeing his side secure third place in the 2009 Six Nations with a resounding 50-8 victory over Italy here on Saturday.
"I have the impression that we're very far from and at the same time very close to the best teams," he said.
"We watched the final game of the tournament between the two Celtic teams (Wales and Ireland) playing together. Wales could have won it but they finished fourth. The tournament is still as magical as ever.
"We beat the best team (Wales) and competed with the others. But there was also the thumping in England (a 34-10 defeat) which is now a part of the history of this group and our staff. It's still incomprehensible."
France finished third in the table for the second Six Nations in succession, but Lievremont rejected accusations of stagnation prior to the forthcoming tour of Australia and New Zealand in June.
"Despite everything we feel that we've progressed," he said. "I still believe in the quality of my squad.
"But we did say that a successful tournament would have been a tournament that we won, and we were some way from achieving that.
"With two and a half months to go before we take on the best teams in the world, I would have liked to know a bit more."
Lievremont received criticism for experimenting with his selections throughout the championship, but the former France international flanker defended his right to tinker with his starting XV.
"Each selection choice follows careful reflection and is made in circumstances that aren't easy," he said.
"I think we leave the tournament vindicated, with our heads high, despite the media's claims that we were in trouble. Personally speaking, I never felt that I was in trouble."
Lievremont, though, dismissed the victory against Italy as being "of no real significance" and warned that he had not yet settled on his squad for the trip to the Southern Hemisphere.
"There's still two and a half months to go and a lot of Top 14 matches for me to look at players, even if certain players in the France squad have responded better to what we've asked of them than others," he said.
Reflecting on the tournament as a whole, Lievremont said the challenge for his side - along with England, Scotland and Italy - was to respond to the challenge laid down by the Grand Slam-winning Welsh and Irish teams of the last two years.
"The fact that the two Celtic teams have won Grand Slams is significant. Without going as far as copying their system, we must be inspired by them," he said.
And despite his admiration for Declan Kidney's Irish team, Lievremont couldn't help claiming a slice of the credit for their success.
"In a way, we helped them get off to a good start in the first match (which Ireland won 30-21)," he said.
"I think they played the most negative rugby in the tournament, but that takes nothing away from their success."
Copyright 2009 AFP Global Edition
