Glasses screwed on his nose, Fabien Galthié walks on the lawn of the Marquet stadium, the lines of which have been urgently retraced for the occasion. And if he pretends to supervise with an inattentive gaze, the former scrum half cannot help but keep one eye in the in-goal, while the other seeks the halfway line.
Because despite the cold and a detached air, the coach of the XV of France does not miss a beat. A missed pass, “be careful, this is not a gift”. A good stamp, “what are they getting into”. Because on Tuesday evening, far from Marcoussis, Fabien Galthié came to lead a training session in La Seyne.
Work on scoring zone defense
The reason? From Monday to Wednesday, the staff members of the different French teams (U20, women’s, VII, etc., more than 70 people) gathered in Toulon for their usual end-of-year seminar. And if the first day and a half at the RCT Campus was used to discuss and reflect on the recent experiences of the different staff, Tuesday evening was reserved for practice. In training. Result, half of the blue contingent went to lead training with the Crabos (U18) and the Alamercery (U16) of the RCT in Léo-Lagrange, when the other half went to La Seyne to train team one of the USS, which plays in Federal 1.
“It’s Cédric Béal [responsable du centre de formation du RCT] who explained to me that the staff of the French teams needed a reference team, tells us Gérald Le Strat, the Seynois manager. It was impossible to refuse. The theme put in place by the coaches of the French teams was defense in the scoring zone, but also how to transform the game after a maul in this same zone.
“We connect with this amateur rugby”
On the one hand, experienced coaches who compare their methods (the different staff of the French teams were mixed), and who train to coach. On the other hand, Seynois players are eager for advice, and happy to put in a little more commitment than usual, for their last session before the holidays.
“Since the start of the week, we have done a lot of theory, work in the classroom. So it was important for us to get back on the ground, explained Laurent Sempéré, co-coach of the French XV in charge of the conquest. We wanted to put into practice what we had theorized so far. See if it worked or not. Well, we are men and women on the ground, we need to confront the reality of the game. So we connect with this amateur rugby which does us good, we share with the clubs and we put into practice what We talked for three days.”
For more than an hour and a half, despite the cold, the humidity and a muddy pitch, the USS players listened to advice, redoubled their efforts and showed that they were very good rugby players. And Fabien Galthié in all this? Discreet but very present, the coach observed, gave some advice and even gave room. “ We work. With joy. And pleasure.”
“These are people you normally see on TV”
Romain Royo, La Seyne winger: “We felt that everyone wanted it a little more (laughs). Already, before training, everyone came to warm up, to make passes, whereas usually we stay rather warm. More seriously, it was a unique opportunity. These are people you normally see on TV. So having them with us was very rich. We could observe that they were picky and precise. Did we have pressure? On the first pass yes, but then you switch to your training, you take advantage and you try to realize what you are experiencing. Well, even if I took a shot from Fabien Galthié on a missed pass (laughs). But it was a great time.”
