the essential
The scrum half and captain of the Blues did not hide his satisfaction after the victory of the Tricolores, this Saturday, November 16, against the formidable Pacific players (30-29) at the Stade de France, as part of the fall tour. The Haut-Pyrénées evokes a “founding” match.
Antoine Dupont, we imagine you happy…
Obviously a scenario like this gives a lot of joy at the end. We talk a lot about the enthusiasm that supporters can have when there are great actions and magnificent attempts but this feeling that we have on the pitch, when we have to hold our line and then it's over, feeling that we can count on each other is a very exhilarating feeling. There's a lot of joy at the end and then winning the All Blacks is always special and it's a very strong feeling that we all shared when the final whistle blew.
Does this success definitively allow us to put an end to the failure of the World Cup and turn towards Australia?
No, I don't think we see it like that. This World Cup, we don't talk about it anymore, you (the media, Editor's note) a little more. Honestly, we are on a completely different dynamic and we are looking towards the future. Winning matches like that is always important, founder. This remains a step in our path which is still long but which is important. We have a team with new players who are discovering the international level who responded “present” in a not easy context, we had injuries, a complicated start to the match… So this victory, we must take it with pleasure, savor it because it will be important for the future but it is not an end in itself.
Also read:
France – New Zealand: “The pressure, the fatigue, everything…” Louis Bielle-Biarrey was ill after the victory of the XV of France
Can the enormous defensive performance unite the group even more?
Of course. At international level, you have to be able to win in every way. This is what we were able to do today. We had a very good defense and we were able to score on turnovers on the few opportunities we had. We often see the state of mind of a team in its defense, in all the efforts without the ball that the players can make during the game. I don't know how many tackles we made but it was perhaps our match where we defended the most and we can still see in the last action that we still had this appetite, this thirst for victory and above all this state of readiness. spirit of never giving up for each other to achieve our common goal.
Also read:
France – New Zealand: “That doesn’t mean anything!” Fabien Galthié sharply reframes a journalist after the victory of the XV of France
Does this third victory against the All Blacks feel like a gold medal at the Olympics?
No, no, no, it's completely different. Afterwards, it's always hard to classify the emotions that we experience each time on the pitch. Today, it's not a title, we haven't won anything except an important match against a very good team with a complicated scenario. We will be able to build and rely on that for the future but from tomorrow, we will switch to Argentina which will arrive very quickly on Friday evening (November 22, Editor's note). I think the group is aware of this and they have this experience and this perspective of knowing that it is something accomplished but not an end in itself.
France
