These are not pages to turn but entire chapters. It's been a year since the French XV was eliminated from its World Cup and the hangover from French rugby lasts. A Six Nations Tournament in ups and downs, first of all, marked by a humiliating draw against Italy but embellished by a victory down to the wire during the crunch. Then a cataclysmic summer from which the Blues emerged neither sportingly – a defeat against Argentina, a close match against Uruguay – nor morally.
If the FFR nevertheless had the prudence to condition a possible return of Oscar Jegou and Hugo Auradou to a dismissal of the case, the clubs of the two players opted for headlong flight. Stade Rochelais had nevertheless chosen to follow the line of dismissal but ended up reversing its decision in the face of numerous postponements of the hearing in Argentina. The legal calendar coincides with a period of absences of internationals in the squad with the autumn tour, and La Rochelle decreed that the argument of the shortage of players was sufficient to justify the return of a man still indicted to this day.
Oscar Jegou was started against Stade Français and received a standing ovation, which was very badly experienced by a La Rochelle supporter present at Marcel Deflandre and contacted by 20 Minutes. “On his try, I was shocked, even if there is some logic in cheering a player. But it was disturbing, he admits. And then especially this lap of honor where he is put forward, with all the players who leave but are behind him, and the entire stadium shouting his first name. » The young man then suffered a wave of hatred on the networks for having shared his discomfort, the final episode of his estrangement from the oval. “I had the opportunity to go see the France-Japan match and I said I was lazy. I don't have too much enthusiasm. The match in La Rochelle played a role. »
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The fall tour of the XV of France therefore has a double interest. Sporting, to best prepare for the Tournament which will begin on January 31 against Wales, and emotional. The question being: how to find a little euphoria around Fabien Galthié's team. To help us in this quest, Christian Califano, consultant for TF1, broadcaster of the November matches, and the masked Oval, founder of the Boucherie Ovalie, whose expertise in rugby satire is well established.
The return of Antoine Dupont, obviously
Toto Dupont is back and Fabien Galthié didn't bother with pretenses: he takes his captain's chair straight back. Decorated with gold at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games with the sevens rugby team, luminous on societal issues such as the fight against homophobia, he transcends the limits of his sport more than ever and can sit at the table of Zizou and Riner. It is an understatement to say, therefore, that its mere presence in the XV of France is enough to chase away stubborn clouds from the oval sky. Even Toulouse, although not the last when it comes to winning, sees the difference, and his hat-trick for the big return to the Top 14 against Clermont is already a great classic.
“He came back as strong, if not better, than he was before,” believes François Cros. He saw a new rugby with new skills that he was able to develop and I think that Antoine has the intelligence to arrive whatever the situation, to find the fault, that’s his big strong point”
Christian Califano's avis: “He is a boy who today is one of the stars of our sport, who is THE best player in the world, no need to repeat it anymore. And beyond everything he can bring to the field, he reassures the guys around him, because he has energy, enthusiasm. And above all, you know that he can break a match for you, make you different in key matches. It's unique. »
A big match against the All Blacks
The France-New Zealand rivalry will also be a duel of the great traumatized South Africa (the Blacks have lost twice against the Springboks since the 2023 World Cup final, poor people). No pity though, there is nothing like a victory against Barrett's friendly in front of a lively French public to give you a boost. We're counting on the Irish to wring them out properly this weekend.
The Masked Oval's opinion: “Let's be clear, everyone doesn't care about Japan and Argentina: to win back the hearts of the French, we will have to beat the All Blacks. If possible with a hat-trick from Antoine Dupont. Otherwise, the poor guy will lose his distance competition with Léon Marchand to become the smooth sportsman preferred by the French. »
The new cycle, on the way to 2027
After a year of sporting hangovers, we had to mark the occasion and set in motion a new dynamic whose aim will be the 2027 World Cup. We can blame Fabien Galthié for many things, but let's give him credit for a certain audacity in shaking up the executives . Gaël Fickou is a substitute, Charles Ollivon is a reserve and Jonathan Danty has been sent home. “There is no comfort zone” insists the coach, who also mentions long-term management of his thirty-year-olds, in line with very current rhythm issues.
“What we want is to keep our best players who have lived these five years. But for that, they must be able to regenerate, they must be able to prepare themselves to continue to progress and not stagnate because they have such a heavy match load, and such a heavy emotional load. »
Christian Califano's avis: “I really liked the transparency, and Fabien's speech, the side of 'we are going to write a new history, and I want you to be the first generation who will seek this World Cup'. That's strong. It speaks to me. New players are arriving, Tatafu starts on the right, other players will be tested. It's not because it's an autumn tour that we have to say to ourselves 'we're playing three matches at the Stade de France, we're happy'. No. You have three matches which should give you the right ingredients to prepare for the 2025 tournament.”
The opinion of the Masked Oval: “Galthié also got the message across by rejuvenating his team. We feel that the work is beginning. Afterwards, we remain French, even with Altrad as a sponsor we suspect that we will probably have difficulty meeting the deadlines for 2027.”
Bonus: New startup concepts from Galthié, for a bit of fun
Ah, Fab's speeches, his rich newspeak, the timeless guilty pleasure of followers of the Blues. To analyze Japan, Galthié gave us a new unit of measurement, probably discovered after hours of laboratory work. “They are the team that imposes the highest meters per minute, they are above 120 meters per minute. » It's a little light, but we sense from the coach a desire to choose a new fad. There is something to dig into.
The opinion of the Masked Oval: “Galthié is the slowest translator in the world. In 2015, Eddie Jones spoke about finishers to name his replacements, and Fabien needed 4 years to go to Duolingo and release the term finisher. Since Eddie has become a bit nerdy now, he will probably go to Rassie Erasmus for inspiration. The problem is that it's much more complicated to understand Afrikaans. Personally, I would like us to have our own version of bomb squad. We could call it the Explosive Squad, it has a little 7th company feel which goes well with our French identity. We are fed up with anglicisms. »
