At the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium,
In less than a month, we will be fixed for good on what this XV of France has in the belly, when challenging the All Blacks in its Rugby World Cup. In the meantime, the confusing scenarios of the two France-Scotland of the week (21-25 and 30-27) have not managed to settle an essential question: should we be really freaking out about not being up to the poster of dream of September 8 (and beyond)? On the one hand, there is this demonstration of our substitutes in Edinburgh for 40 minutes (3-21) on August 5. Then a fireworks display right out of the locker room in Saint-Etienne on Saturday (from 13-10 to 27-10 in five short minutes).
But if we look at the glass half empty, there is this terrible 22-0 suffered in the second half in Scotland, synonymous with defeat despite a numerical superiority, then a blackout even more worrying in the Cauldron, during which the band of Gregor Townsend martyred the holders of the XV of France (three tries in eleven minutes) in Cauldron air conditioning mode. “The timings of matches vary, but if you are looking for air pockets, you find them anyway, smiled Fabien Galthié on the subject, Saturday evening in Sainté. At the start of the match, we were overtaken, taken everywhere. And then the team regained control of the game in its own way. Before we start to thwart and we are quickly punished. »
“We are not destined to perform today”
Between serenity and barely veiled concern, the tricolor coach seemed to take malicious pleasure in slipping in arguments allowing him to approach the World Cup with two opposing states of mind regarding the course of the Blues. Rather judge these two outings, a few minutes apart, in the middle of a press conference on Saturday.
We saw what we were capable of doing and what we weren’t capable of doing. With our physical level below that of the Scots, we are at times in difficulty with and without the ball. »
It’s a preparation match with a team [type] who were playing together again for the first time since mid-March [41-28 contre le pays de Galles le 18 mars]. In terms of physio work, we are not destined to perform today. The Scots have a month and a half of preparation ahead of us, having finished their championship in early May, compared to mid-June for us. The objective is to ramp up until the September 8 deadline. »
“There is no panic in the group”
OK, thank you Fabien for enlightening us in this way. In the players’ camp, we advocate unity to make this ultimately positive evening fruitful, with success snatched from a penalty from Thomas Ramos (30-27, 79th) in front of more than 41,000 spectators thrilled with such suspense. “We are never in top form in preparation matches, slips Antoine Dupont. We wanted to put some volume on the game and we were a little frustrated in the first half, where not much happened. We had a drop in speed around the hour of play, we fished with a relaxation perhaps unconscious. I have the impression that it is above all our technical quality that has gone down. We lost a lot of balls and we quickly got into trouble. But we picked up the pace collectively, that’s what was important with the victory. »
In terms of rhythm, the last two preparation matches against Fiji (August 19 at 9:05 p.m.) and then Australia (August 27 at 5:45 p.m.) will play a key role, in order to (finally) close the physical gap with a selection like Scotland. A dimension on which the third line Grégory Alldritt also explained himself: “When it’s been two months that we haven’t played, we lose some sensations at the level of the ball. Do not panic if there have been hand errors, it will quickly come back. Even positive attitude at Charles Ollivon, author of a test and a nice match on Saturday: “To be ready on September 8, you have to go through it, get your bearings, work physically, and at times be tough. We had some air pockets tonight against Scotland but we came for the win. “Despite these famous “air holes” mentioned by the players and the staff, the hooker Pierre Bourgarit assures: “There is no panic in the group”. Not our type either, don’t worry.