Beyond the victories, the XV of France is currently changing its overall project. No more contracts of trust, welcome emulation. For good or bad? The future will tell, but the logics governing these developments seem relevant. It is the principle of reality that knocks on the door of the “dreamer” Fabien Galthié…
We thought of this November tour as a delicious opportunity to restart the machine, after a hard-fought Tournament and a nightmare summer. The return of executives, finally, and the beginning of a new story which was to free us from our backward-looking chains, to finally direct our gaze forward. We got all this on that magical night of November 16 when the blue clamors pierced the gray of Saint-Denis: the All Blacks fell, once again. They even fell for the third time in a row against the XV of France and, on this occasion, the manner weighed even more heavily than the result, for what it meant of rebellion in the French ranks.
Further away, more calm, we must nevertheless see and understand what is currently happening in the French team. Without saying it, it is perhaps not a revolution that is taking place this fall, but it is at least a fundamental evolution: the men, the game project and even the “France project” in its globality.
There are almost no more managerial players. In any case, nothing that certifies the presence. Ollivon experienced the fate of the “outside group”, Fickou that of the sidelines against Japan. This time, against Argentina, it is Grégory Alldritt who will be missing. Just that. Alldritt is the vice-captain of the XV of France. A “Dupont first circle” and the number 8 of the Blues for six years, without anyone having ever found fault with it. His sporting performances, ranging from “very good” to “amazing”, had never aroused fear. This is now less true.
Change of codes, principles
In other times, the shaky start to the season that he is going through would have been compensated by his status, and this desire to Galthié&co to establish a climate of confidence and continuity in the French ranks. Untouchable. It was necessary that a player, when he enters the field wearing the blue jersey, not have the feeling of “playing his head” every minute, every action. This is how he would give the best of himself. But that was before. Before, the overused word was “trust”; today, we hear the term “emulation” over and over again. Over time, promises sometimes age poorly.
Asked this Wednesday about his initially proclaimed desire to take “80% or 90% of the workforce” (that of the 2024 Tournament) at the World Cup in Australia, Galthié therefore took on a change of project. At least strategy. “World champion teams have strong collective experience. This is a path that we have undertaken but in our ecosystem, it may not be possible. Perhaps this ambition we had is not achievable. We will do differently, we will adapt to our ecosystem.”
This time it is clearly stated. We thank the coach here for avoiding emphasis to detail his remarks. The French ecosystem, that ofs seasons with 40 games and 10 months of effort, does not allow us to project ourselves into four years, nor of plan a team of 28 years and 40 selections on average. The French context is also one of wear and tear and uncertainty. This reality principle has knocked on the door and Galthié reacts accordingly. SOif we had found the initial promise a bit bravado, and even frankly disconnected from the realities of our team, we accept the shift which is taking place with a certain understanding.
France
