Coselector of the XV of France female a few days after the short defeat of Twickenham (43-42), the two bosses of the XV of France female Gaëlle Mignot and David Ortiz agreed to take stock of the 2025 tournament, finally of good quality after a failed WXV. A good omen of less than four months from the world Cup in England.
With hindsight and a few days of reflection, what did you understand more about this last match in Twickenham?
Gaëlle Mignot : This match gives us confidence because it shows that we are not so far. We could have achieved something big thanks to better management of certain balloons, especially in our camp and better discipline on key moments. We have room for progression, especially on the defensive aspect in the first hand. Nevertheless, this match leaves us a lot of regrets and frustration in view of the score.
Isn’t there a risk to fall into the trap of the famous encouraging defeat?
G. M. : The mistakes we have made in Twickenham are errors that come back often, and we are aware of it. Clinging 30 points so easily is not possible, and we lose balloons in the brand zone that hurts us very much. But again, this match allows us to capitalize on confidence because we had predicted hell … Some young players who had never faced England thought that we were going to face an ogre, and that we would take forty. But few people had imagined that we register 40 points as well. The fact remains that these matches, you have to know how to win them. And that one, we did not win it. It is one more defeat on the clock.
In this tournament and for several years, it has been the impression that indiscipline and bluntness in hand are recurring ailments. Do you share this?
G.M. : On bullet losses, yes. These awkwardness cost too much and even more in a match like this. We have been vigilant for a long time and I think we will continue to press very hard on it. However, I find that things are changing, but maybe not as fast as we would like. The game that we want to set up requires a certain alchemy and precision. This team remains generally young, with 22 average selections in Twickenham. What is positive is that the analysis of the data shows that we managed to physically dominate this team of England when before, we were not powerful enough.
What data are you talking about?
G.M. : We are in 62% line gain more offensive and has 98% percussion efficiency. This means that 98 % of the time, the percussion makes the opponent go back against 93 % for the English. We are therefore at the level or even slightly above.
What about la discipline?
David Ortiz : I join you completely on this point. But if we really look at it, we see that our indiscipline is more pronounced on the first half. Clearly, it puts us in the juice and complicates us a lot from the start. In addition, this indiscipline prevents us from holding the ball. Besides, we did not have possession of the whole tournament. We finished 47% against England, but on average, we are around 45 or even 40%. However, we need it. The Italy match is the typical example. But despite everything, we end up putting 34 points. If we solve this discipline problem, our typing force will be even more important in the future.
How is your conquest?
G. M. : We made our melee grow over the games. I still have our medals in mind during the last WXV, where we were not invited to the nations of the world’s top 4. There was therefore a big awareness of the girls who have shot down a substantial work since. Throughout the tournament, it was rather dominating since it is 100 % success and we recover a penalty. This year, we were not in trouble against the English when it was the case last year against her in Bordeaux.
D. O. : On the key part, our score (90% success on the entire tournament, editor’s note.) Indeed reflects a certain serenity in this sector. Above all, we have an alignment which does not necessarily prioritize one or two sautéuses. We try to blur the tracks. As such, it is Madoussou Fall-Raclot, who rather has a number 5 profile, which was our most solicited firm. On the other hand, we must improve on our defensive keys, because we are not against enough. We are often in the right areas but for lack of reaction or finish in the gesture, we do not against.
Let’s come to the offensive sector. By peeling the statistics of the tournament, we realize that France is the team that makes the least passes…
G. M. : It is correlated with our low possession on the whole of the competition, and we must correct it. The other factor is to have opted for this game in the axis, on which today we can gain this line of advantage. This choice also limits the number of passes. Now you have to succeed in finding the balance and getting out of this axial game to get our wind turbines and exploit their qualities. But regardless of the number of passes, the important thing is to find efficiency.
We know that this axial game works if we dominate physically, but what is your plan B if it does not work?
G. M. : We have the will to be able to use all the forms of play. Honestly, we did not expect to dominate the English in the axis, so we also thought of using the game at the foot of pressure. We are also lucky to have a good defense, which is able to climb loudly, to attack. Then, we can also have recourse to the game at the foot to the foot to go and get our wingers in the corridors. The important thing is not to lock yourself in a single register because if the axis is closed, there are always spaces somewhere.
What is the balance sheet of the defensive sector?
D. O. : Overall, we do a correct tournament but we still lack efficiency in our 22 meters. We take too many points on direct play sequences. This is clearly the area where we lose the most line of advantage. But as soon as we get out of this 22 zone, we see that we dominate this line of advantage so it is positive. But again, we will make our own task a lot if we gain in discipline and give less opportunities to our opponents to enter our 22 meters.
On the other hand, the French team is rather well equipped in the game sector at the foot, both in the current game and facing poles …
G. M. : It’s been a while since we started work with the players in this sector because we cannot be exposed in our camp. The players became aware of it and worked. As for the shot, it is a sector that Morgane (bourgeois, editor’s note.) Appreciates and in which she was performing. Lina (Queyroi, Editor’s note) did not stop much but she also works very much. We were talking about the melee sector earlier. When the girls of the pack see that they have a manager who investigates everything at the foot, that makes them want to be efficient in a closed melee to win penalties.
Let’s come to individual assessments. You have done this whole tournament without Agathe Sochat, but Manon Bigot signed very good performances. Have you gained in-depth workforce?
G.M. : The lack of depth was part of the debriefing at the end of the last WXV. Since then, we hammer that the more the players will pull themselves up, the better we will be. As for Manon, we knew what to expect when selecting it. Like her, players must be ready at any time. If we stay on the first line, I am also happy with the balance that we found between the holders and the finish, who bring their energy in the second half.
On the third line, what did you think of the performance of Léa Champon in England?
D.O. : She signed a high -flying service. She is a player who has the ability to manage the small perimeter in a very effective way, whether in attack or defense. We saw him break several tackles and be very incisive in defense. Clearly, she is one of those young players who today are challenging others and that’s good for us. We also anchored a lot of things too with Teani Feleu as well as with Charles Escudero who also covers the second line position.
When will we see Seraphine Okemba exploiting her athletic qualities in attack better?
G.M. : Despite her great experience in VII, this third line position is new to her. She is a girl who needs to master the project to feel comfortable. She doesn’t have much experience with us either. We had put it a little on the WXV but there, we launched it in the big bath. I believe that the team’s services also forced her to come far too in the middle of the field. It is a work that we must carry out with it, and we must manage to find the balance between work in the midfield and availability in the corridors.
Teani Feleu made a good tournament despite the blunders ball in hand. But in club, she plays in 12. Do you plan to keep it in 8?
D.O. : Whether it is a center or third line, it will be more or less contacted in the same way on this midfielder, where she is asked to find progress. Playing in 8 is an opportunity for her, and Teani brings us an additional card with her versatility of the center, as she has evolved several times during the tournament. It makes it easier for us to make 6-2 also, because we know that it can play the center. Of course it had a little bit of waste, but when you really see the number of meters earned, the number of broken tackles, we can say that it has brought a lot.
Marine housekeeper seems to have been revealed by taking responsibilities as vice-captain …
G.M. : Marine, she is a player who needs to be really confident, to feel carried to flourish as much as possible. His captain’s role gave him a magnitude. She slowly entered this role, we accompanied her and she was able to rely on Manae to challenge herself. She takes more and more pleasure in this role, and she is fulfilled in the field. She showed that she had raised her level by taking this role of captain and leader to heart, and she was the first to get young to encourage them to challenge other players, so it’s very positive.
A final word on the very young wing Kelly Arbey, who do you seem to place great expectations?
D.O. : When we see her morphotype and his athletic qualities, we immediately see that she is a player who will bring us a lot. Her work in VII allows him to chain tasks and efforts, and indeed we place in her a lot of hope. It was used sparingly to maintain emulation at the post where there is a lot of competition because there is generally no pure wing on the bench, so there are only two places. We knew that she could slam us individual tests so we took her tenure in Twickenham and that is what happened. We need this finish profile.
