Paris (AFP)
Sectors in difficulty against England (victory 24-17), the touch and the melee - the conquest - of the XV of France will be specially scrutinized Sunday against the Italians and was at the heart of the preparation at "maximum intensity" of the Blues this week.
"We want a strong conquest, we want strong men": the French coach Fabien Galthié hammered it again this week, the conquest must be at the heart of the new project. But against England, whether on the sidelines or in melee, France was put in danger by the strength and the English experience.
If, against England, the paw of defense coach Shaun Edwards was clearly visible, what will happen on Sunday (4:00 p.m.) of the conquest against Italy, which relies particularly on this domain? The brand of coaches in charge of the blue conquest, William Servat and Karim Ghezal, remains to be printed.
For this, the staff notably set up on Wednesday a "really solid" training session, at "maximum intensity", where all the phases of play were initiated by a touch or a scrum.
The objective? "Being able to master our launch phases at high intensity and impose our game," explained manager Raphaël Ibanez, who applauded the preparation before England and this time "voluntarily increased the volumes (training) to keep players focused. "
"We were not able to launch the game on the conquest" against the English, regretted Ibanez, who wants to correct the shot.
- Lack of touch experience -
Concerning the touch, according to Jefferson Poirot, pillar of experience author of a good entry into play on Sunday, it is a problem of "comprehension of announcements, precision and knowledge between heel and jumper", which " is regulated by experience and work together, little by little ".
The Bordelais (27, 34 caps) does not want to overwhelm the touch and believes that the match was "correct" in this sector, "not catastrophic".
If he is satisfied with the management of the balloons carried - "we managed to counter them well, it was the big test" - Poirot is more direct on the fray: "It was complicated, yes, we were caught, there is not much to say special, we were less good, not even technically good at all ".
- The bench in question -
"The first part of our scrum match is solid. It was when we coached that we were destabilized," said Galthié, who brought in Poirot against Cyril Baille and Demba Bamba against Mohamed Haouas in the 49th minute, before the entry ten minutes later of Boris Palu and Cameron Woki, for their first selections in 2nd and 3rd row.
"There, we lost our seat in the fray," analyzes Galthié without targeting players. "And as soon as we weaken at this level, everything becomes more complicated, our game has deteriorated, has been shorter, theirs have lengthened, put us in difficulty, the duels have been easier to manage for them. "
Analysis which explains the sustained desire to master these fundamental phases against a team from Italy which is precisely the strong point.
"We know they rely a lot on that. We expect a high challenge, facing a good touch, a very strong third line, very good in the air too, we expect a good meeting on this sector ", explains Poirot.
The squadra Azzura, of the new coach Franco Smith, will come with all the more intentions since she missed her entry to Wales (42-0) and that she has not won since 2013 against France .
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