“A good preparation match. » After having outclassed Japan 52-12 without straining their talent, Saturday evening, the Blues of the XV of France are already turning towards their next opponent, New Zealand, for an opposition of a completely different caliber, on November 16. “It’s not certain that we will score eight tries in the matches to come,” coach Fabien Galthié euphemized in particular.
“We’re only at the first match of the tour, we have to keep a lot of humility and our feet on the ground,” also lucidly warned third row Grégory Alldritt.
“We know that we will have fewer opportunities in attack” against the Blacks, said winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey, after a full 80 minutes during which he permanently made his Japanese counterpart Jone Naikabula dizzy.
“No time to waste”
It is therefore difficult for the teammates of Antoine Dupont, who seemed to repeat his ranges to the point of sometimes falling for ease, to learn a lot from such a meeting, before facing the three-time world champions (1987, 2011 , 2015).
“It looks like our roadmap on the offensive level, in the alternation (of attacks) too,” Galthié declared despite everything. Before warning: “We had waste, we are not satisfied with everything we produced either. » The Blues in fact lost too many balls (fourteen in total) and made errors, like this first blocked foot play from Dupont, which could have resulted in a Japanese try from the start of the match.
They also showed themselves to be relatively undisciplined (eleven penalties compared to seven for Japan), particularly on the ground, where the French scratchers, who were late, were penalized on several occasions. “We haven’t seen each other for a year for some, or since the Tournament,” put the coach into perspective, while recognizing that the team “has no time to waste”.
New Zealanders on a good start
Next Saturday, the Stade de France will therefore welcome a completely different opponent. In bad shape after their second place in the Rugby championship this summer, marked by an unprecedented defeat at home against Argentina, the New Zealanders reminded in a few weeks that they should not be taken lightly.
Easy winners of the same Japanese (64-19) by resting their managers, the finalists of the last World Cup, last year, then beat England at the last minute at Twickenham (24-22).
Carried by their captain and second line Scott Barrett, an immense Ardie Savea and their nugget Wallace Sititi in the third line, Scott Robertson's players then won their showdown against Ireland (23-13) after a fierce fight. “This is their sixth month of competition,” recalled Fabien Galthié, always worried about the lack of collective experience of his troops. “They were heckled, it was complicated for them, but in the end, they win in the end, that’s the mark of big teams,” stressed Alldritt.
“It’s up to us to raise our level”
Despite inaccuracies in their game, the French will be able to rely on their defensive aggressiveness, never denied even when the score was established against Japan.
It will be necessary to cope with the “physical density that the Blacks are capable of imposing on their opponent”, warned Dupont. Before clarifying his thoughts: “Beyond their individualities, that’s what struck me the most. It's up to us to raise our level to be able to respond to the coming threat. »
Related News :