The Blues applauded by the Scots after the defeat at the Stade de France. – MARTIN BUREAU / AFP
- The Blues lost at the very end of the match against Scotland on Friday night (27-23).
- As they played for the win in the tournament, the French were never able to win widely against a serious Scottish team.
- Should we throw away everything from these VI Nartions 2021? We take stock after this sad evening of losing at the Stade de France.
At the Stade de France,
At least we can’t say that we hadn’t been warned. On the eve of this France-Scotland that we dreamed of historic for French rugby and the Galthié generation, Imanol Harinordoquy, one of the heroes of this same confrontation in 2007 – won this time by the French at the last minute for the winning of the tournament – had this sadly premonitory sentence: “historically, we are good at achieving an exploit but we are less good at repeating it a week later! “. On target.
Seven days after the drunken evening and the barely believable end of the Blues’ match against Wales, Fabien Galthié’s men never gave the impression of believing in their luck, Friday night, under a drizzle that did not bode well as long as one becomes attached to this kind of signs. Perhaps the goal (scoring four tries to a defense that had only taken 12 in its last 9 VI Nations games and winning by 21 points) was too ambitious. And too anchored in the heads to finally develop the game plan to the letter.
A mixed tournament
For Galthié in any case, promised sworn, his players did not let themselves be eaten by the context. “We had decided to build the match, to take the points off as soon as they appeared, without running after the score at all costs,” he analyzed after the meeting. In any case, the rain did not really allow the ball to be held very much. It is a match that was played on the upwind combat, on the phases of conquest and the physical challenge. I don’t think having to score a lot of points disturbed the players much. “
Sitting alongside the coach, Charles Ollivon did not really have the head to debrief the defeat. “It’s a big disappointment, we gave a lot during these nine weeks. It’s not easy tonight. But we will continue to work, we know where we come from, we will go back to work, ”he announced with the desire to quickly move on. Logic. On the other hand, we have to look a little in the retro before switching to the next deadlines.
What will be left of this tournament, then? It’s worth what it’s worth but, already, the idea that we were able to play wins until the last match. Then, inevitably, this end of the match of mutants and the two tests registered by Charles Ollivon and Brice Dulin against the Welsh last weekend. Since we are the first to 20 minutes to take out the crossbow when the XV of France makes us want to cut our veins, which has often happened in recent years we will not lie to each other, let us also know how to recognize when this team gives us gui-lis in the bas- belly.
And lately, it is true, we have all come back to love this XV and to have fun in front of his matches. And if the Blues still end this tournament with two defeats in the suitcases, let us not forget either that they sometimes sent us very high in the sky, as on this great movement that started with a long touch from Julien Marchand and concluded off by Penaud against England at Twickenham. Everything is therefore not to be thrown away (apart from the “Waffles gate” of course).
Ollivon and the match theory that makes you grow up
This was also the meaning of the speeches on Saturday night after the defeat. “You have to take a little height, relativized Charles Ollivon. I think we will learn from this cruel scenario, see this game cold again and we will have to come back stronger in the next rounds. This match and this Tournament will make us grow, it is obvious. This adds collective experience to us, we have to rely on that, we gain experience. And then a second place in the Tournament is not nothing either. “Even (r) appeal for calm on the side of Fickou, who refuses to” throw everything, to question everything “because of this (big) false final note.
Christophe Galthié for his part insisted on the very high level of the VI Nations to remind that the second French place is nothing to be ashamed of. “All the confrontations were very hotly contested, very intense, it was often played out on the last action, except against Italy. It was bitter encounters, with different content. They were all really hard to play and win. After that, we finish second for the second time. It’s good to point that out, because it’s a really tough competition. “With only one year of common experience since the arrival of the new coach at the helm, we too want to believe that this team has the talent and the character to write a beautiful page in its history in the years to come.