France players must “kick the coaches out” if they are to have any chance of winning the Rugby World Cup, according to the Toulon president, Mourad Boudjellal, as another World Cup threatens to descend into chaos for Les Bleus.

Boudjellal’s call to take action came amid reports in French media that the captain, Guilhem Guirado, has fallen out with the coach, Jacques Brunel, ahead of Saturday’s match against Pool C leaders England, a situation that has displeased the rest of the players.

“You’re there for your career and for your country. You’re there for French rugby and to try to go as far as possible, to see if you can win this World Cup – but we will only get there if you take control,” Boudjellal said. “Japan is a magnificent country to visit. Our coaches who are there, I invite you to … treat yourself and leave the players to tell their own stories because for years I’ve not understood the game plan of this France team.

“Something is going wrong, so it’s over to you guys [the players] … there are guys in this group who will be major coaches in the future … kick the coaches out, take control, because we are ready to follow you.”

French players appeared to be almost in rebellion against the then coach Marc Lièvremont during a turbulent 2011 World Cup campaign, one which saw the team reach the final but lose 8–7 to the All Blacks. Brunel’s side have beaten Argentina, the US and Tonga so far and Saturday’s game against unbeaten England will determine who tops the pool heading into the quarter-finals.

There was no sign of any disquiet against the coaching group during France’s media session on Tuesday but there was plenty of support for Guirado. “The captain is Guirado,” L’Équipe reported Gregory Alldritt as saying. Gaël Fickou added: “There is no debate on the captain. Guilhem Guirado is our captain. His influence does not change. He always speaks. But it is not he who dictates strategy for example. But for the rest, it is clear, he is the captain. We are all behind him.”

Maxime Médard took a wider view of Guirado’s position as captain among the squad. “For us, it is Guilhem who is the captain. And when he’s not on the pitch, it’s Jeff [Poirot] or Louis [Picamoles]. There are no discussions in our group around this.”