However the Dragons will remain dangerous floaters under their first French coach, Laurent Frayssinous, assisted by the Australian veteran David Waite, and London Broncos should also improve on a series of poor seasons following Tony Rea's return to the club late last summer.
Mali will take on Guinea, debutants Botswana and Ghana, one of the tournament favourites, in Group D. Under the leadership of French coach Alain Giresse, many of Mali's selection will be taking part in their first ever Nations Cup.
That setback prompted Serena to look outside her family circle and form a partnership with the French coach Patrick Mouratoglou, under whose counsel her career has enjoyed a resurgence that defies a credulity encoded by our understanding of time.
But you couldn't help feeling the happiest man in the stadium was Raymond Domenech, the French coach who is under the most pressure of all to book tickets for Germany.
The French coach, Marc Lièvremont, who has been under huge pressure and scrutiny for most of the World Cup campaign, said he did not care whether anyone thought Wales deserved to advance.
And was it not true that French coach Bernard Laporte would be joining the Sarkozy administration as under-secretary to the Minister of Sport?
Rousseau, the French coach, instinctively knew this.
Instead, Senegal's French coach, Bruno Metsu, has raided the French league, seeking out Senegalese talent and assembling a fine squad.
Agnel and Camille Mufat, for example, are French swimmers trained by a French coach, Fabrice Pellerin, in the French city of Nice.
