A little over a year ago, the Blues saw their dream of becoming world champions disappear. What followed was just a sad downfall, between a failed 6 Nations Tournament and a nightmarish summer tour in Argentina. 374 days later, Fabien Galthié’s famous “Premium” finds a France group in recovery. Both sportingly and on the question of image.
“The greatest glory is not to never fall, but to rise every time you fall.”. By reappropriating in 1998 the cult quote attributed in the great literary history to the Chinese philosopher Confucius, the equally legendary Nelson Mandela, idol of an entire South African people and model of resilience, offered this maxim a new breath of life and inspiration without fail. common measure. How many athletes since then have become one with this phrase to overcome a crisis, excuse their missteps, or simply put into words a personal distress so difficult to describe?
A year ago the Tricolores, our Tricolores, collapsed on the pitch of the Stade de France in the quarter-final of the World Cup in France. The fantasy of lifting the Webb-Ellis trophy was born three years earlier with the arrival of Fabien Galthié at the head of the selection. It became a hope depending on the results (grand slam 2022, success against the Blacks and the Boks) until it transformed into a concrete ambition on the evening of the first match against New Zealand, before shattering into fragments for a small point against the future double world champions Springboks.
Besides the battered bodies of Alldritt, Dupont and Danty, these were the souls who were hit hardest on that sad autumn Sunday evening. And if the coach called with all his might for a return to the top of his group two months later for the start of the 6 Nations Tournament, the former scrum half probably had no idea of the months of hardship that awaited his family, passed so close to posterity…
A failed tournament, a nightmarish tour
Galthié’s roadmap was clear when he returned to the arena on February 2 against Trèfle: “inspire a nation” ; put there “an unconditional commitment, a spirit of revenge”, but the wounds of the XV of France were nevertheless more invisible than they let us imagine. The disappointment (the word is probably too weak) of the 2023 World Cup was not yet digested by the group of Grégory Alldritt captain in the absence of Antoine Dupont. Humiliated by Ireland (17-38), ugly winners of Scotland (16-20) and miraculous against Italy (13-13), the Blues concluded this Tournament in second place thanks to two final victories ( against Wales 24-45, and England 33-31). But the initial goal was not achieved and certain warriors of recent years saw their place called into question by a certain number of followers, calling for a rejuvenation of the French team. Even the coach, acclaimed by polls designating him as the man for the job after the World Cupwas here and there called into question. His communication yesterday was now singled out by his peers, even defined as a “smoke” strategy for the most virulent among them who regretted the non-questioning and the absence of transparent explanations after disillusionment.
The much-desired rejuvenation came during the traditional summer tour. At the end of June, 21 selected players left for Argentina without the slightest selection on the clock. The “premium” at rest, the young tricolor shoots had the mission of invigorating a blue earth that had become drier and less fertile to success. After a promising start, the “affaires” caused the tour in Argentina to fall into the “news stories” section and French rugby into chaos. Nine months after the World Cup, the image of the French XV was at its lowest, and that of French rugby saved by a fabulous Olympic tournament in the tradition of Dupont, architect of dreams.
The image challenge
Dupont, let’s talk about it, will make his comeback with the XV of France, and with him, 17 of the 20 “premium” defined as such by the staff in the summer of 2023 (only Baille, Marchand and Ntamack are missing ). Happy news for the Rooster who, beyond the three matches to win against Japan, New Zealand and Argentina, will have the difficult mission of winning back the hearts of many French men and women.
An image challenge, in short, for a French XV sadly losing this summer outside the green rectangle (72% of enthusiasts estimated in a recent survey that the image of rugby in general has been degraded, and worse still, 34% and 29% said they were likely to turn away from the discipline permanently).
Because without offending the summer players, some of whom had a good sporting tour (Guillard, Nouchi, Attissogbe, to name just a few), the tricolor renaissance seems to involve the return to business of experienced adventurers to supervise the young nuggets who shine brightly every weekend. All in a new living environment dear to Florian Grill who presented the idea in our columns after his recent re-election: “We are going to have a new framework for rugby, because there will be a before and after Mendoza. Now we are going to have this autumn tour with three matches, I hope they will give us a lot of energy and desire.” 374 days later, gentlemen, make us proud of our sport again!
