Quarter-final referee ‘wasn’t at all happy with his performance’

In Marcoussis

To return to the start of the Tournament. In what state did you find your players?
Fabien Galthié: Before this Tournament, we experienced this quarter-final lost by one point, on October 14. Several months then passed. On the time scale of the XV of France, we have the impression of finding ourselves just after the dislocation of the group. The story is written continuously, even if three months have passed. We reconstituted a first circle, around the past, the present and the future. We worked from December. We had to accept, go beyond, commit to a new story. With our staff, we had regained our full strength. When we welcomed the players, we gave ourselves two days to see where the players were. When we showed the images, Thomas Ramos said: “When we saw the images, it hurt us.” It was six weeks later. The players had not done this digestion work. The second point, between the World Cup and this meeting, the players had gained fat mass and lost lean mass. They were missing a part to regenerate. Why did you renew this team against Ireland, apart from the injury withdrawals? How to explain it to players who had an exceptional match in the quarter? There are some contentious refereeing decisions, we spoke about them with referee Ben O’Keeffe. No player could be sanctioned with a group exit. We decided to rebuild the same team. A match that you play at 14, it is destroyed. We had two matches like that (Ireland and Italy).

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What was the content of your exchange with Ben O’Keeffe?
We send clips to referees before and after matches. We accept the decision of the match. But we can discuss certain actions cold. I was able to work on refereeing and rules. We have an educational role, we cannot call into question the arbitration decisions. Respect is essential. I said that some coaches did not have the right to comment on these decisions. In this quarter, my players were very strongly impacted by questionable decisions. We are talking about it to improve our sport. We agreed that the decisions were not the right ones. Ben O’Keeffe was unhappy with his performance. We come back to the match against Ireland, why not reselect these players who had performed well?

After 5 years of practice, I know that we have the potential to compete with the best. But this potential must be maintained

Fabien Galthié

How do you plan to bring the thirty-year-olds in the group to the next World Cup?

It would be a shame if age were an eliminatory criterion. The thirty-year-olds carry with them 50 selections. How can we explain that they cannot bring us their experience and their talent? Hence the reflection on how to bring almost all of this squad to the next World Cup. There is in-depth work done with them. Why would we be the only nation that cannot bring players with 50 caps? The average age of South Africans at the last World Cup was 31 years old and 66 caps. We only have Fickou who is 28 years old and 90 caps. We must help players to prepare better, to regenerate better. So that they can be selected in 2027. For the next tour, we are going to bring young people, to develop their potential. These thirty-somethings should be able to match in 3 years. (…) After 5 years of practice, I know that we have the potential to compete with the best. But this potential must be maintained.

You have decided to inject new blood for the last two matches. Why did you decide to do this?
We experienced a tragedy in the quarter-finals. And another against Ireland. When I talk to a player, I say to myself: what is he thinking? Me, after each match, I thought it was the last. It was not a question of calling into question the confidence we had in our players. We had two very difficult matches. Greg (Alldritt) and I told them not to think too much. The return from Marseille was very hard. It looked like an army that lost a battle. And we were going to Scotland, a terrible team, fifth nation in the world. We felt that the team was not at its best. The first two weeks are always difficult. We didn’t have all the weapons. The players, the cold ones, accept criticism. Gaël Fickou, how does he keep it going? Thirty-year-olds, as you say, are cracks. At the 60^e minute at Murrayfield, we bring in our eight substitutes, we go all-in (like in poker). We were down 16-10 and then went 10-0. Before Italy, the players were not at the physical level we expected them to be, as we saw in the training data they had done at home. It was after Italy that we decided to shuffle the cards. We don’t say it, but we could still have won the Tournament. These players came back during the match and they brought us their energy.

Sometimes we wonder if we’re not too ambitious

Fabien Galthié

Defense is the negative point of this Tournament with 14 tries conceded…
The defense struggled at times but not all the time. Attack feeds defense and vice versa. We must constantly adapt. When we don’t make a highlight, we lose energy and this is felt in defense. The failure is multifactorial. We have nothing to envy of other world nations. We have to work on preparing our players. Against Ireland, we move at 112 m/min; against Wales, we move at 117 m/min, we are no longer the same team. We experienced, as I said, a hell of a tournament.

You won the Tournament in 2022. Do you feel the strong expectation of a new title?
We are demanding and ambitious. Sometimes we wonder if we’re being too ambitious. From 2008 to 2019, the French team has only won once (in 2010). We finished second in 2011, and third in 2017. Otherwise, no podium. Since then, we have had 20% defeats, 77% victories and 3% draws. But we would like to pay ourselves more. To share more with everyone, our audience, our leaders. We want to win titles. I set the bar very high. Afterwards we cannot lower the cursor. I understand those who don’t understand that we can’t do it. We tell ourselves that at some point things will turn around. We can keep the cursor at this level, but we have to assume. When we look at the trophy case in Marcoussis, we can see that some are missing. And we only want to fill it.

Do you know what your famous “arrow of time” will look like until 2027?
A new calendar will arrive, with new matches. We do not know yet. Until the New Zealand tour (in 2025), that’s clear. We’ll see after.

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