It did not have the prestige of this France-New Zealand and everyone has taken great care, since then, to act as if it had never existed, but the XV of France has already played an opening match of World Cup at the Stade de France. It was in 2007, during the edition co-organized with Scotland and Wales, and the Blues had completely gone through it. Livid, clumsy, without energy, they lost to an Argentinian team that was not very good but who knew how to play perfectly with the elements. “It hit us by the throat, by the guts, and as the match progressed, the pressure crushed us,” rewinds Imanol Harinordoquy, who was at the forefront of the fiasco.
“We didn’t understand what it was doing there”
Obviously, the staff had been mistaken in their approach. A failure symbolized by the reading to the group, a few hours before the match, of the famous letter sent by the young resistance fighter Guy Môquet to his parents before his execution by the Nazis, in 1941. Supposed to galvanize the players, this text is certainly full of bravery but which begins with “I’m going to die” has, oddly, had the opposite effect.
Future Secretary of State for Sports, coach Bernard Laporte thought it would be a good idea to follow the inspiration of President Sarkozy, who had asked teachers and professors to read it to their students at the start of the school year. “We weren’t aware of anything, we didn’t know where it came from and, above all, we didn’t understand what it was doing there, says Harinordoquy, still cautious 16 years later. The sporting context was already heavy, we clearly didn’t need it. »
Things have changed a lot since then in the XV of France. Absent until the mandate of Jacques Brunel (2017-2019), the mental dimension has found its place in the daily life of the Blues with Fabien Galthié. A specific pole was even set up within what the breeder calls “the perf cell”. For this opening match, everything has been thought out, from the many moments of life shared with the public during the preparation for the rehearsal in the last match against Australia of the warm-up shortened by the protocol to 22 minutes very precisely.
If he will be entitled to his motivational speech before entering the field this Friday evening, he will not have to get the tone wrong to have the desired effect. We therefore asked sports psychologist Anthony Mette, who notably advises some current players of the French XV, to give us the keys to successful speaking. Response from the specialist:
It’s quite an art, because you have to know your players perfectly and how they work as a team to judge the degree of emotion to which you can go. It is precision work, almost surgical, in which the context must be taken into account. This is the French team, the World Cup, in France, against New Zealand. There is already a very intense emotional pool in oneself, so the job is rather to do the opposite, to calm them down, to ensure that they are as zen as possible. No need to overplay. »
To make things more concrete, we submitted to our psychologist three mythical speeches, coming from sport, politics and cinema. With a simple question: good or bad idea, if we are Fabien Galthié?
- Pascal Dupraz before the match to maintain Toulouse in Ligue 1 in 2016: “The time to do it is now, not tomorrow, not yesterday. It is now. All that’s left to do is eat: the table is set. [Il y a] people who love you, people who wait for you. Some are too young and will be in bed when you get home. They are waiting to hug you! (…) Open your eyes, open your ears! It’s just beautiful, it’s just your life… (…) At the end of the meeting, you will be heroes. »
> The specialist’s opinion: “Very bad idea. It’s a great speech, but on a last match, something truly transcendent. In a first match, it’s too much. If you start like that, the competition afterwards will be very long and tiring, and the guys will be psychologically drained. »
- Dwight D. Eisenhower to his soldiers on the eve of the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944: “You are about to embark on the great crusade towards which all our efforts have been directed for many months. The eyes of the world are on you. (…) Your task will not be easy. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and tough in battle. He will struggle wildly. (…) I have complete confidence in your courage, dedication and skill in battle. »
> The specialist’s opinion: “That’s pretty much what’s going to be said, I think. Not word for word of course, but it’s going to look like this. Because it always works. Rugby is a somewhat warlike team sport; sentences like this are often printed and stuck to the walls of locker rooms. It’s a model of its kind, and we will surely be on this register. »
- Aragorn to his men before a losing battle at the gates of Mordor, in The Lord of the Rings : “Hold your positions! My brothers, I see in your eyes the same fear that could seize my heart. A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we abandon our friends and break all ties. But that day has not arrived ! Today we will fight! »
> The specialist’s opinion: “That, I sign [sourire]. A beautiful galvanizing speech, very affective, very emotional. There is the historical dimension, the war, the combat, we can also sense the presence of families. But for me it’s better on a finale, because there is the notion of afterward. It almost prepares you for going home. »
A little early for that, we agree. To have the end word of the story, we will ask the players when they will move into the mixed zone after the match. Hoping that Fabien Galthié has found the right tone, he who already does not hide his emotions in the face of the media, like when he shed a tear after the historic success at Twickenham last March. “It’s a staff that plays a lot on the emotional aspect. Everything is very ritualized, the delivery of jerseys, the integration of players… . I expect Fabien Galthié to be very moved himself, projects Anthony Mette. The key will be to stay calm. Not neutral, because you have to take the issue for what it really is, but do it as calmly as possible. »
Thursday, for his last public speech before diving into the event, the coach indulged in a small flight which, we would bet, is a good overview of what his talk will contain. “This match will also be a challenge on a given that we sometimes perceive less, which is the relationship between the players, the affect, the love they have for each other, the desire not to let go. , to be the first support of his partner, he professed. There is an invisible force which is born in these moments and which asserts itself. We are going to go to the revealer, to find out if we are a team that loves each other very much, committed in the same direction. The reverse would still be a shame after four years of talking about the arrow of time.