As well as bemoaning the poverty of his wing reserves, he also expressed concerns over the scant resources at tighthead prop.
"We are lucky that Rabah Slimani has come through so quickly at Stade Francais because until recently, we had no one behind Nicolas Mas," he said - and admitted that international-class No10s were also thin on the ground. He has no goal-kickers, either.
You can see his point. At the last count, using squad lists filed by each of the top-flight teams at the start of the current campaign, more than 43 per cent of players come from somewhere other than France, and while a proportion are keen to qualify as French through residency, most have either played representative rugby for their homelands or have plans to do so.
Toulon, the European champions, are more than 50 per cent foreign and frequently play major matches with a dozen imports in their starting XV. Clermont Auvergne do not have a French outside-half specialist; the Basques of Bayonne have no French centres. At Bordeaux-Begles, there is no French wing in sight.
Saint-Andre has been grappling with the effects of this mercenary internationalism since succeeding Marc Lievremont as coach and is accustomed to getting a rough ride from those who point out that during his successful club stint with Toulon, and before that with the Premiership club Sale, he was not averse to signing from abroad - and signing big.
Luke McAlister, the All Black midfielder, materialised in Greater Manchester when the Frenchman was in charge there, as did Fernandez Lobbe, the magisterial Argentine loose forward, and several big hitters from the Top 14. When he moved to the Cote d'Azur, in came Wallaby centre Matt Giteau and Springbok lock Bakkies Botha.
"When Sale won the Premiership title, there were a lot of English players in that side - players we had brought on rather than bought in," he said. "When I worked in Toulon - and I want to say that I am proud of my association with the club - the chairman was extremely ambitious and wanted to win things very, very quickly. So I said, 'OK, we sign Giteau and Botha'. When you sign players such as these, you don't wait five years for success.
"But this does not change the fact that there is a big debate to be had in France. At least we have made some progress in other areas: the new agreement between the Top 14 league and the French Federation means that for the first time, the test squad will have limits on the amount of rugby they play and can prepare properly for a Six Nations over a period of two weeks.
"Last season, people were going into the tournament after playing eight games in succession, sometimes for the whole 80 minutes. This recent development is vital for French rugby. I believe it holds the key to our future success at test level, along with making sure more players make the step from academy rugby and are given time on the field in the Top 14."
Yet even that is not without its controversy. No sooner had the French version of England's elite player squad deal been struck than Guy Noves, the long-serving boss at Toulouse and undeniably one of the great men of European rugby, lobbed in his six euros worth.
What is the point today for a club to develop a young player with international potential, knowing that if you get him there, he will be pinched from you by the test team and you won't have him any more, he asked rhetorically.
"I find it odd that the broadcasters and supporters are asked to pay more for their club rugby when we see the best players on the field less and less."
Noves - and yes, he also played on the wing for his country - went straight to the heart of matters with that little outburst. Club rugby across the Channel is booming and while rugby administrators elsewhere in Europe believe, and indeed hope, that the French union economy is overheating and will burn itself out, a new broadcasting deal worth the fat end of 60 million ($120m) a year to the Top 14 means the high temperatures can be sustained for quite a while to come.
England have it in them to prevail in Paris next weekend, but there are bigger games being played on the far side of the Channel, by businessmen and broadcasters who are pursuing a far richer prize than a mere Six Nations victory over the enemy from over the water. Saint-Andre's battles are only just beginning.
- The Independent
