Monaco (AFP)

The XV of France will have to "find the good alchemy between the young and old" to shine at the World Cup in Japan (September 20 - November 2), said Monday in Monaco the scrum half Antoine Dupont, spearhead of the new generation.

The N.9 Toulouse (22 years, 14 selections), internship in the Principality as the entire French group, is eager to be in August to get into the thick of things with the preparatory matches, which will "find gestures and attitudes ".

Q: You are one of the young players of the XV of France. This World Cup is also to prepare the next in France in 2023?

A: "At each World Cup, we have to prepare the next one, because there are a lot of players who are at the end of their career, we have been quite a lot of young players to hatch this season, especially In Toulouse, Julien Marchand, Dorian Aldegheri, Romain Ntamack and Thomas Ramos have had new cues, because the pool is there, these players show what they know how to do in the league and they are rewarded. international, it's something else: we may have little experience, but we will have to find the right alchemy on this competition between young and old and play those who deserve it, the best. "

Q: In your opinion, is there a good balance between young and old in this group?

A: "Yes, a bit like other countries that have experienced this, England was young in 2015, Wales was very young in 2011. There are cycles in teams and at the moment, the average age is a little rejuvenated, but I would like to emphasize the importance of the managerial players who are benchmarks on the ground, on scenarios that are not used to know or specificities of the international level. When you have 50 or 60 selections, you do not apprehend things the same way. "

Q: What do you think of this new physical preparation, concocted by Thibault Giroud?

A: "What is quite pleasant is that we do a lot of rugby and few races without a balloon.This makes it possible to work under fatigue, to always be in the hard, to remain lucid with a balloon and situations to I think that's where we work best. "

Q: What does Fabien Galthié, who has joined the staff as an assistant in charge of collective animation, contribute? Does he relieve Jacques Brunel in his responsibilities?

A: "It can only be beneficial for us to have new skills and another look.We saw the lines drawn on the field: Fabien is very precise on it.In the field, he takes a lot of hand on the technical side. "

Q: You must be anxious to start the warm-up matches against Scotland (August 17 and 24) and Italy (August 30)?

A: "Yes, we saw it at the end (of training on Monday), everyone starts to want to tackle (laughs) Especially the front, they are lack of contacts since the end of the season! In rugby, there is a physical side and we all like that, otherwise we would not play this sport, the friendly matches will do good to find gestures, attitudes and to work concretely. "

Interviewed at a press conference

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