Tokyo (AFP)
It's gray on Tokyo Saturday morning. But the horizon of the XV of France, moribund for years, can be released (16:15 local, 09:15 French) in case of victory over Argentina in a decisive first World Cup match for qualifying for the quarter-finals.
Will it rain in the west of the Japanese capital at the end of the afternoon? Time will be a major player in the "drama" that will be tied at Tokyo Stadium, with playing ambitions inevitably down in case of slippery ball.
"We are ready to face if the conditions do not allow us to play" off and hand, assured Friday Captain Guilhem Guirado. "It will be more alternating, play on foot to make them back .. Control the ball will not be easy" if it rains, anticipates the center Gael Fickou.
For three long months, the Blues have prepared for this great rendezvous under a baking sun (Marcoussis, Monaco, Oliva in Spain, Nice) to get used to the subtropical heat. It was only when they arrived in the archipelago at the foot of Mount Fuji that they were able to train in a humid atmosphere.
- A match won over three -
Their wait ends. "We are all excited, we can not wait to be there," said winger Damian Penaud, who is preparing to play, as the majority of the squad, its first World Cup. With the minimal objective to avoid an unprecedented elimination from the chick phase.
In the "death hen" which offers only two tickets for the quarterfinals, it passes by a success on the Pumas, then against the United States (October 2) and Tonga (the 6). Any other balance would force a feat on October 12 against England, impressive for months and has made a bite of Ireland in preparation (57-15) as the Blues in February (44-8). ).
A very unlikely prospect for the XV of France who has won only 36% of his matches since the 2015 World Cup, left on a humiliation in the quarter-final against New Zealand (62-13).
Rushed urgently in December 2017 to replace Guy Novès, sacked, the coach Jacques Brunel has not done better in two years than his predecessor, and the president of the Federation Bernard Laporte this summer has added Fabien Galthie, who will be his. .. successor after the Mondial.
- The mirror of Jaguares -
In front, the Argentineans also got rid of Daniel Hourcade for bad results. Former hooker Mario Ledesma, shaped by France where he played and coached for thirteen years (2001-2014), started well in 2018 but has since skated with nine consecutive losses.
The two opponents are therefore down for results, except that the Pumas can rely on the rapid progress of their province, the Jaguares, Super Rugby finalists and who are the backbone of the selection (13 holders on 15 Saturday ).
"They play together all the time, they are not too vague," said the winger Yoann Huget, one of the blues (32) who will have with his partner Maxime Médard well surround the young hinge Toulouse formed by Romain Ntamack (20 years old) and Antoine Dupont (22).
"We know that they will wait for us on the fight, the ground game, very important for them, and the speed of movement: we have seen that they play with very fast rucks," summarizes Huget. "The match will be played on the one hand on the ground and on the other hand in the air." A double battle to win on pain of reliving the fiasco of the two lost matches against the Argentines in 2007 in Paris. And to be the first team of France eliminated before the quarter-finals of a World Cup.
© 2019 AFP