French rugby coach Marc Lievremont slammed a section of his World Cup team as “spoilt brats” after they defied his orders by going out to celebrate Saturday night’s 9-8 semi final win over Wales.

With a smile on his face throughout, Lievremont elaborated on an earlier comment he had made about going to bed in a bad mood, by delivering the withering verdict on some of his squad.

Lievremont said this reminds him of 1999 when he was a player in the last French squad to reach a World Cup final they spent four days celebrating their semi final win and didn’t prepare properly.

Having beaten New Zealand in the semi finals, France lost to Australia on that occasion.

Lievremont speaking through a translator added that while they did not play well in the semifinal win against Wales, for them it is important to be in the final.