In Marcoussis,
Only three more sleeps. Three and a half months after saying goodbye to their great dream of winning a World Cup at home, the players of the French XV are impatient at the idea of starting a new page, Friday against Ireland for the first match of the Six Nations Tournament. They still think about it, of course, about this heartbreaking defeat against South Africa, this little point which they missed, these few refereeing decisions which could have turned out differently. It’s time to move on, for everyone. “We’re starting from scratch and we want to show that we deserved better,” second row Romain Taofifenua summed up Monday at a press conference in Marcoussis.
Homecoming
In their cocoon of the National Rugby Center, the Blues found themselves happily again last week. A few people were missing, injured (Jelonch, Flament) or called by other ambitions for this year (Dupont), but in the end, more than two-thirds of the group were part of the adventure. Enough to restart the dynamic that had carried this team over the last four years, before suddenly breaking down. “We were really waiting to see each other again. In any case, I was looking forward to it, Peato Mauvaka said this Tuesday. After the World Cup we broke up overnight, we went from four months of living together every day to nothing. It was steep. »
If some felt the need to cut back before returning to the club, the hooker rushed to the Stade Toulousain training center as soon as the door was reopened for him. “I needed a new goal, right away, it was better than crying every day,” he explains. In the end I did well because I had a series of good matches. » To the point of having passed Julien Marchand in the hierarchy, continuing his cannonball end to the World Cup. At training on Tuesday, he wore the blue bib of the holders, printed with the number 2.
“It was a different life”
At his side in the Marcoussis press room, Jonathan Danty also shows his determination to enter this new era. He doesn’t hide it, the return home was complicated in October. “In four months, we had fallen into a certain routine. These are stupid things, but we no longer did the dishes, we didn’t wash our laundry. It was a different life, he says, smiling. We realize that we were really privileged to prepare for this competition. And then, we all had to work hard to leave and find the France team. »
The 31-year-old center from La Rochelle was among those uncertain at the end of the World Cup. In the mixed zone of anxiety, after South Africa, he confided his doubts, and had to speak with Fabien Galthié to find out if the coach was counting on him for this new cycle. Apparently the discussion went rather well. Here he is again, and with starting status, alongside Gaël Fickou. “Playing for the French team is always exciting,” he replies when we ask him if this Tournament will not lack a little flavor when we have experienced the craze of a big fiesta at home. “All that is in the past unfortunately, what is coming before us is this Tournament and that is what we must concentrate on,” he professes.
Spotlight on Ireland, therefore, the other big disappointment of the World Cup, also falling in the quarterfinals. The legendary opener Jonathan Sexton is no longer there, but as for the Blues, the bulk of the troops are ready to return. This clash from the outset between two vengeful behemoths promises to be a hit. No one wants to find themselves mired in an endless cycle of losing. ” Pressure ? Yes, we definitely have it, admits Danty. But we’re not going to start thinking about that. We want to start the Tournament in the best possible way. »