XV of France: the haka, Louis Bielle-Biarrey, the first half… The favorites and favorites of L'Indépendant after France – New Zealand

We liked

Respect for the haka

This has been a strong subject over the last few weeks. Joe Marler, the iconic left prop of England, declared before the clash against the All Blacks that “the haka should be removed, it’s ridiculous”. The English and the Irish, moreover, had decided to respond in the stands and on the field. By coming together in line, and with songs throughout the ritual dance. At the Stade de France, this Saturday evening, it was respect. No whistle, no singing, applause at the end. When we talk about this rugby, it feels good. And the New Zealanders did not fail to thank the French public on their social networks. They too were touched by this mutual respect.

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XV of France – “It’s a very strong feeling to beat the Blacks”: after the victory against New Zealand (30-29), find the reactions of Fabien Galthié and Antoine Dupont

The legs of Louis Bielle-Biarrey

37 km/h. No, it's not the speed of your unbridled electric scooter that makes you take crazy risks. This is the top speed of Louis Bielle-Biarrey once launched at full speed. And, frankly, it has the capacity to bring 80,000 people to their feet in a stadium, and probably even 7 million in front of their televisions. The 21-year-old Bordeaux winger was again flamboyant on Saturday evening. He scored his ninth try in 13 caps, after being the quickest to recover a Thomas Ramos kick, almost passing center Anton Lienert-Brown and winger Sevu Reece for second rows. If there weren't too many doubts since the last World Cup, it's now easy to say that Louis Bielle-Biarrey will keep this number 11 for many years. And he spent so much energy that he threw up at the end of the match…

The ability of players to change positions

In modern rugby, it is no longer rare to find versatile players, sometimes to the extreme. But in international rugby, positions are often respected to the letter. There are fewer freedoms. But not in the French team. At the end of the match, due to concussions from Romain Taofifenua (56th) and Paul Boudehent (70th), the Blues finished with Mickaël Guillard in 5th, he who had returned in 7th, and with Peato Mauvaka in 6th. Knowing that Alexandre Roumat, who started in 7, also slipped to 8 at the exit of Grégory Alldritt (48th). Behind, it's the same, but it's something that had been prepared. When Yoram Moefana left (60th), Emilien Gailleton entered 13, sliding Gaël Fickou to 12. Then when Nolann Le Garrec made his appearance (68th), Antoine Dupont moved to 10, when Thomas Ramos found his rear post. In the end, six players no longer played in their original position. A strength, because it undoubtedly thwarted New Zealand's plans.

Also read:
XV of France: victorious against the All Blacks, the Blues were stunning!

We didn't like

The first half

Let it be said, at half-time, when France was trailing 10-17, no one was leading. We would have thought we were back a few years ago when the Blues were powerless against the Blacks who were starving. Lost ammunition on the sidelines, Georges-Henri Colombe in difficulty in the scrum against Tamaiti Williams, and who already knew that he would have to spend 70 minutes, having played on average only 27 since the start of the season. But above all the New Zealanders were cold with realism, who planted twice by Peter Lakai (9th) and Cam Roigard (27th), without any possible dispute. But the exit of Jordie Barrett due to injury (37th) undoubtedly had consequences on the Blacks' second half, especially since no element of the bench made the difference. And the Blues were able to take advantage of this to turn the match around.

Also read:
France-All-Blacks: 7.3 million viewers for the victory of the XV of France

L’indiscipline

This is not a common occurrence for the French XV, but it was penalized a lot by Nika Amashukeli. 13 in total. The proof is that he conceded five penalties against the posts, which Beauden Barrett (37th) and Damian McKenzie (55th, 62nd, 68th, 75th) had fun converting. This is what often happens when the excess of energy is high. But there is always this problem of rucks where the French were often caught by the patrol, a bit like during the last 6 Nations Tournament.