While Fabien Galthié announced a year ago that he wanted to keep “80 to 90%” of his group for the 2027 World Cup, he is already caught up by the reality of the figures and the states of health. and form which could encourage it to review its plans in the event of failure in November.
This was one of the strong sentences of the debriefing carried out by Fabien Galthié, three weeks after the failure in the quarter-final that we know against the Springboks (28-29). More than wishful thinking, a desire to build over time, with the players in whom he had placed his trust since taking office. “This generation with whom we have worked for four years is on the way, then explained the French boss. The last match of the first term against South Africa, lost by one point, is a constituent element of its development and an additional collective experience to be better. We want to bring this group into 2027. 80 or 90% of the workforce will go. I consider that the ideal development for an international player is eight years, combined with solid collective experience.”
Icon Sport – Hugo Pfeiffer
The problem? It is that in the light of this November tour (the France-Japan test of which will coincide one day with the anniversary of the famous press conference previously cited), the figures already contradict the coach's policy. Indeed, if we look at the list of 33 selected for the last World Cup, 11 players have already disappeared from the group of 42 delivered last Wednesday. And if we are willing to understand that certain players like Baille, Bourgarit or even Marchand (without forgetting the particular case of Ntamack) owe their absence to an injury, we cannot ignore the fact that the other absences are essentially linked to sporting choices (Couilloud , Hastoy, Macalou, Vincent, Aldegheri, Woki), extrasportive (Jaminet), or a little of both (Chalureau). For what ? Quite simply because the 2024 Tournament and its disappointing start went by, as well as the Top 14 and its pace so frantic that we have probably never sufficiently measured the “benefits” of the Covid pandemic in 2020 which allowed all players to regenerate for six months in 2020…
Thirties ringing and glitches galore
The trick? The fact is that the various confinements are now far behind us and that the pace of competitions has, since then, “chewed” executives whose ability to continue until 2027, where they will blame for the most are well into their thirties (37 years for Atonio and R. Taofifenua, 35 for Danty, 34 for Baille and Ollivon, 33 for Fickou and Cros, 32 for Marchand and Ramos, 31 for Dupont, Penaud and Jelonch, 30 for Alldritt).
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Because in truth, physical alerts are already multiplying, of which Galthié is obviously aware to the point of multiplying on all fronts, with the authorities and the big suppliers of internationals, to grant them sufficient recovery time. Even if it means having agreed to formalize in the texts what was nothing less than a basic trend for twenty years, namely reserving summer tours in the Southern hemisphere for a development selection rather than a real XV of France filled with its “premiums”… It must be said, in its defense, that the physical situation of some already looks alarming in order to have a real medium-term vision.
No room for error
Indeed, beyond the cases of Ntamack and Baille which have a series of problems, the question now arises of Julien Marchand's knee, of those of François Cros and Grégory Alldritt which regularly hamper them, of the return to their best level of Jelonch, Ollivon and Fickou, repeated concussions from Jonathan Danty, and so on…
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XV of France – The staff also has things to prove
This is why, for this historic generation of Fabien Galthié, this month of November could indeed prove decisive, knowing that the new class embodied by Gailleton, Costes, Gazzotti, Nouchi and other Roumats will advance to Marcoussis determined to don't let your turn pass. And why, in the face of opponents announced as affordable (between the Japanese who have never beaten the French endless season), the current blue executives will have no room for error. Under penalty of starting to be let down, while there will still be a marathon of thirty matches to play for the Blues before the next World Cup…
