Marc Lievremont paid tribute to his beaten Rugby World Cup finalists as he brought the curtain down on his controversial tenure as France manager.
Lievremont frequently clashed with the media during his time in charge and his final few weeks were dogged in controversy as the French team stuttered their way to the final of the World Cup in New Zealand.
Indeed, there were reports that Lievremont was no longer taking training after defeats to New Zealand and Tonga in the pool stages but Les Bleus recovered with a quarter-final victory over England before putting Wales to the sword in the semi-final.
Speaking after watching his side 8-7 in Sunday's final, Lievremont made it clear he would not be sad to see the back of the media.
"My contract ends today and I didn't want you guys to miss me very much. In the weeks and months ahead, it will be up to someone else to tell you about the French team," he said.
The French squad went against Lievremont's wishes when they celebrated their semi-final victory, prompting the coach to label them as 'spoiled brats' but he admits the timing of his outburst was unfortunate.
"That is a term I use with my brothers and sisters," he said. "I take responsibility for that and the timing wasn't probably right. I know some of them were not happy with me.
"I have great admiration for my players and I hope in the coming weeks they will feel the same way about me."
Few had expected France to threaten the All Blacks but they wemt close to breaking the hearts of an expectant nation, which left Lievremont with a tremendous sense of pride.
"We made it to the final. We made the All Blacks tremble and that is where we are now," Lievremont said.
"I thought the performance of the French players was beautiful. They put in a great performance. They played great rugby.
"We were looking for three consecutive wins and it wasn't there. It is hard when you are up against a whole nation."