Regan said his job was to get under the skin of the French team

"I thought the behaviour of the English hooker was completely unacceptable at times," added Lievremont.

Being targeted for criticism delighted Regan, who came off after 50 minutes.

"It's the biggest compliment you can give me. It's my job to get under their skins and clearly I did that," said the 36-year-old.

Regan is notorious for his talkative ways on the pitch and the fact he regularly delayed taking throw-ins on Saturday incensed the French.

"I am a bit disappointed Lievremont called me a clown, but when you come to France you have got to play on the edge and get under their skin somehow. If you don't, they will get under yours," said Regan.

"They get irritated and it puts them off their game, doesn't it?

There's a lot we can learn from them Marc Lievremont on England

"(Former England hooker) Brian Moore always did it, so I suppose I am following in his footsteps."

Regan was part of a powerful display by the massive England tight five.

Their dominance up front stifled French attempts to run England off their feet and Lievremont admitted: "At least three of four times we lost scrums on our own feed - it's true we were dominated in that phase of the game.

"Maybe we were not mature or patient enough and we'll work on being more realistic and pragmatic. But we kept trying things and I liked that."

Lievremont, who gambled on a team with players hardly tested at strategic positions and no specialist kicker, praised England's recovery after patchy performances in their first two Six Nations games.

"They must continue in that direction," he said. "Playing that way, they can beat any team in the world. There's a lot we can learn from them."

Scrum-half Morgan Parra, 19, who had never started a match for France, said: "This match will help us move forward.