Fabien Galthié after France-New Zealand: “A prestigious victory”

Is this a founding victory for 2027?
Fabien Galthié. That's for sure. This victory does us a lot of good. Especially since the scenario was not ideal for us at the start of the match. The very rapid injury to Tatafu which caused us problems in conquest and scrum, lost balls, an interception which cost us a try… But the team held back. She was very, very strong in weak times. That’s also what happened at half-time. We resolve the problems of conquest and Antoine (Dupont) corrects the way we played. It’s very positive because we get paid very quickly.

How was this victory achieved?
It’s efficiency that counts. We were facing a well-established, well-oiled team that had been together for six months and was playing its 13th match. We, with three weeks of preparation and only one match against Japan (52-12 victory), we did not start on an equal footing. But our roadmap was quite pragmatic. The very negative scenario in the first half did not put us in difficulty, the players did not give up. This is very positive for only three weeks of working together. It’s a prestigious victory.

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The notes of the Blues after France – New Zealand: Bielle-Biarrey monstrous, Mauvaka and Meafou in force

We had very strong and very pleasant emotions.

Fabien Galthié

We saw an embrace, a strong emotion with your staff at the end of the match…
We worked a lot to get here. It shows that we made the right decisions and that the work proposed to the players turned out to be fair. We can let go sometimes. We had very strong and very pleasant emotions, it was 100% joy, pleasure, happiness. We are very proud of the players. They discover them, I've been with them for five years. They are truly special guys.

What does it mean to beat the All Blacks three times in a row?
It's done, it's written. We can always say what we want, but they come three times and fall three times. It’s a great satisfaction. It's good to take these victories.

We try to be very fair in our team compositions. We work on it a lot, a lot. Always with the desire to build the best possible team to win, and nothing else.

The year 2024 was not linear. Does this victory validate all your choices?
I find you harsh compared to our year 2024. England have lost seven times, Ireland already three times. We are the best European nation in 2024. Your judgment is harsh… We will close our year against Argentina and we will see. We have six days to prepare for this last test. It's very special only six days after facing the All Blacks. We will have to recover well, count the available players carefully. More generally, I think we are having a solid year in 2024. The matches were not always successful but the team held on, despite a lot of injuries and rotation. It's a year of post-World Cup transition that is both very rich and very difficult to get through.

This week was marked by the Jalibert affair…
I hear your comments… We try to be very fair in our team compositions. We work on it a lot, a lot. Always with the desire to build the best possible team, the best to win, and nothing else.

Comments collected at a press conference