Fabien Galthié’s state of grace almost lasted four years, but it is well and truly over. Since the cruel setback of the French XV against South Africa (28-29) on October 15, in the quarter-final of the World Cup at home, criticism has been rife, particularly on the coach’s penchant for statistics , too marked according to its detractors.
Its release in The Team on November 9 – “According to the data, we should have scored 37 points” – had notably provoked the wrath of Richard Dourthe. The former three-quarter center with the flowery words was released three days later on Canal+. Excerpts: “I think he takes people for idiots”, “He smokes everyone with his data”…
No offense to his former teammate, Galthié does not intend to put away his computers, nor his “LinkedIn” newspeak, as he explained in an interview published this Monday by Olympic Midday, while affirming: “It’s my failure, I accept it. We can use the word with courage, with lucidity. » “I clearly understand the discussion around the analysis of data,” also said the coach, who deplores a debate “that has become almost caricatured”.
“Looking at the past to better anticipate the future”
“But we can’t be blamed for not preparing our matches and not being intelligent,” he continued. Working with analytics is being smart. ” But still ? “Analysis allows us to look at the past to better anticipate the future and predict what will happen. When you go from 33% to 80% of victories, it means that you have succeeded in modifying something that had been anchored for ten years. We must not question the intelligence that allows us to play as fairly as possible. » But not always to win.