The French delegation arrived in Lille late Tuesday morning. Just in time to drop off the suitcases at the hotel and Fabien Galthié, accompanied by five players, went to the Pierre-Mauroy stadium to unveil the team composition which will begin on Thursday against Uruguay. With a few “Galthiéades” of which he has the secret.
Jelonch captain, obvious
Cruciate ligament surgery on March 6 and captain of the French XV on September 14 in the World Cup, this is the rather extraordinary path traveled by Anthony Jelonch this year. The Toulouse colossus worked hard to be part of the adventure and here he is rewarded, starter and captain in the absence of Antoine Dupont, Thursday against Uruguay. “This goal in my sights helped me a lot to come back quickly and strong,” he explained Tuesday during the press conference. This injury will have made me grow. »
Fabien Galthié was full of praise for his third line when justifying his choice: “Anthony represents the group perfectly. During these four years, we had tough times, which we sometimes did not see coming, in terms of the game, adversity, the environment. The men were strong in these moments. This group is determination, solidarity. We are moving forward like this. »
Seeing him come back in full possession of his means, the coach let Jelonch “choose” his return match. “I said ‘as quickly as possible’”, relates the person concerned. So let’s go for this second group match. “I just can’t wait until Thursday and for the kick-off to take place,” he projects.
The composition : Jaminet – Bielle-Biarrey, Vincent, Moefana, Villière – Hastoy, Lucu – Macalou, Jelonch, Boudehent – Taofifenua, Woki – Aldegheri, Bourgarit, Gros
Galthié as we like it
We don’t know if it was the victory against the All Blacks that freed him (even more), but the coach was particularly in good shape in this lineup announcement conference. It’s been four years since we heard them but sometimes, certain great flights of Galthié still manage to surprise us. We have therefore selected four which stand out from the rest and on which we meditated at length in the evening while going to bed.
- On Jelonch’s return: “Work and conviction build strength and help. »
- On the tour to Australia in the summer of 2021: “In each match we went to the reveal, men and souls. And Anthony was our captain. At every difficult moment our team united, this is part of our great moments of construction. »
- On the work of the staff: “We feed off the views of others, the kindness of everyone. »
- On something that had nothing to do with it: “The first quality of this group is that [ses membres] defend the line. They defend the line with their body, their heart and their soul. »
In the North (also), we love rugby
Almost all the players lined up on Thursday will play their first match on Lille soil. A discovery, in a region not necessarily known for its passion for rugby. And yet, there were already a few hundred of them waiting for the Blues when they arrived at the station. “It’s nice to play in the provinces, and not always at the Stade de France,” says Romain Taofifenua. It is a great pleasure to feel supported throughout France. »
Pay attention to decompression
We laugh we laugh, but there is a match to win on Thursday. The opening victory relieved everyone after months of thinking only about that, but it would be a question of not giving up completely now that the hardest part is over. “We have to digest this match which has been flashing like a semaphore for three years,” Galthié illustrated when justifying his 80% reworked team composition. We have to change and project ourselves in a short time, that’s why we align the team that seems to us to be the best for this meeting and the most complementary in terms of freshness and motivation. »
Vigilance is required among the coaches, who have insisted on this point since Sunday. The usual replacements know why they are there. “They told us clearly, the goal is not to give up. There is this daily requirement to move the team forward, it is the only way to do great things,” reports Melvyn Jaminet. About whom the main news of the day will still remain that he is nicknamed “Paga” within the group, in reference to the candidate of “Marseillais à Miami” Anthony Paggini. Explanation (because you definitely need one): “With the people from Toulouse, we get confused quite a bit with reality TV nicknames,” says the back, laughing. We can’t wait to get to know the others.
Today’s program
The Blues will be at the Pierre-Mauroy stadium from 1 p.m. for a first and last training session before the big day.