The Toulouse second-row and five other teammates have never suffered defeat against the New Zealanders, participating in the last two successes.
Not so long ago, facing the All Blacks was synonymous with a big suitcase and a feeling of helplessness. “We have the opportunity to win but also the opportunity to take 50,” recalled William Servat. Between 2009 and 2018, the French XV racked up 14 defeats in a row against New Zealand, including the humiliation in the quarter-final of the 2015 World Cup against the bulldozer Julian Savea (62-13).
Since the arrival of Fabien Galthié, the big dark storms have dissipated with a 40-25 success in the fall of 2021 then a prestigious victory in 2023 at the opening of the last World Cup, the first defeat for the New Zealanders during of a group match in the World Cup. Just that.
Compared to the generation subscribed to “encouraging defeats”, several current internationals have never lost to the men in black. There are even six in the team lined up on Saturday at the Stade de France to have only had two victories against them: Peato Mauvaka, Grégory Alldritt, Jean-Baptiste Gros, Romain Taofifenua, Gabin Villière and Thibaud Flament (others participated to one of the two victories). The latter, affected against Japan, will hold his place well on Saturday against the Kiwis. “I took a knee to the iliac crest. It hurt a lot… I've done a lot of treatment on it since the match, I've been able to train well and it's going well. he reassured mid-week.
We don't fear them because we are a team that competes with them. That doesn't mean we feel better than them and think we're better
Thibaud Flament
And the second row of Stade Toulousain returns to the last two France-New Zealand: “They were two different matcheshe explains. The first it was the construction of this group, a stage. The second time it was a high-stakes match for the World Cup. Winning both was obviously huge. It's always easier to build on victories: it reinforces the choices that are made, the strategy that our game plan is put in place. Especially against teams that are hard to beat. Against New Zealand, it's always complicated. So when we can beat them, it’s always reassuring.”
It will nevertheless be necessary to raise the cursor, after the first outing of the Blues against very limited Japanese. “I think we are not completely satisfied with our performance in the scrum sector against Japan, confirms the Toulouse resident. We really focused on that, we did a little more this week. We worked well, we settled well. So, we are excited to be able to put this in place and play this match, especially in scrum and conquest.
Scott Barrett is “one of the best players in the world at his position”
This French XV no longer has any complexes against the triple world champions (1987, 2011, 2015). “We don’t fear them because we are a team that competes with them. That doesn't mean we feel better than them and think we're better. But we have weapons to compete”insists Thibaud Flament. And to continue: “I think this group also has the weapons to get back into the match, even if we don’t take it the right way. This was the case for the World Cup match, we took a try after a minute and a half and, in the end, we won the match. We have the collective and mental strength to come back into matches.”
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This Saturday, Thibaud Flament will come up against serious clients in the second row: Tupou Vaa'i and captain Scott Barrett. About the latter, Flament is complimentary: “Today, he is one of the best in the world in his position. He had a very big World Cup. He impressed me personally against us. He is a very great player, a very good leader too. It is certain that he is often on the verge of making mistakes, but it is also a strength. It will be up to us, therefore, to be able to question him and make him doubt.” To aim for a historic pass of three, like in 1994-1995.
