At the Stade de France,
It was hard, even unbreathable at times, but the XV of France made a success of its start to the World Cup by beating the All Blacks (27-13) this Friday evening at the Stade de France. A big sigh of relief, at the end of a match where the Blues had to put up a monumental fight before taking off at the end.
Taken cold (and twice at that)
We should have suspected that this Marseillaise a little missed, with a public at the bottom but not in rhythm with the children’s choir in charge of the hymns, that the Blues would not be quite on time for the big night either. . We had barely sat down for the kick-off when Ioane had already pierced a French defense mounted at full tilt. At the end of the action, a model of play at the foot of Beauden Barrett to send Telea to the test (2nd). Not quite how we imagined the party.
Returned to the place by the precision of the foot of Thomas Ramos and in front of the score at the break (9-8), the Blues were again surprised at the start of the second period. Just after failing two meters from the in-goal of the Blacks, they conceded a corner try from the same Telea, after a pass that Penaud and the whole stadium saw in front, except the referee Jaco Peyper (43rd ). We wanted to forget the liabilities of the man who sent off Vahaamahina in the quarter-final loss to Wales in 2019 before laughing it off with Welsh fans the next day at the airport, but it’s not that game who will help us. Fortunately, this XV of France is cut to overthrow mountains.
A huge heart
Fabien Galthié and his players had not stopped saying before the big night that they felt light, ready to face the pressure of such an opening match. But the many clumsiness observed throughout the first period, such as this totally sausage penalty from Jalibert, these few avoidable hand faults and these 21 (!) missed tackles betrayed them. But we have already forgiven them. This team has character and, above all, a huge heart.
The public – and us with it – dreamed of great flights with the ball in hand, still under the influence of the orgy of play during the last clash between the two nations here at the end of 2021, but it is a game of ragpickers that he had to deliver and the Blues threw themselves into it without batting an eyelid. We saw more Penaud and Villière in support of the friends in the heart of the storm than riding on their wing, we saw Alldritt boiled after only half an hour by dint of stopping mammoths full face but still there in the 80th , we saw Dupont and Jalibert grit their teeth as rarely, but finally we saw this XV of France gradually stifle the All Blacks.
Penaud freed everyone at the end of the line on a school action just before the hour mark (55th), and then Jordan’s yellow card for a charge in the air on Ramos ended up tipping the report by force. The last 20 minutes were lighter, even more cheerful at times, until Jaminet’s coup de grace (78th).
The life in blue
The relief is immense, this Friday evening, at the height of the suffering that this match was for an hour. Starting with such an opposition was not without risk, the main thing being to break the momentum that has carried this team for many months. We were scared, the players also certainly, a little, but the collective strength that this team gives off is an all-risk insurance. What awaits him now, Uruguay, Namibia then Italy, is not big enough to worry him. The staff will be able to manage this long group stage with even more serenity, to prepare for what we are already obliged to plan for: a titanic quarter-final against South Africa or Ireland. We’re thinking about it, but for now let’s all do like the players: let’s enjoy!