Marcoussis (France) (AFP)

The match of the XV of France against Wales on Saturday "is not a preparation match" but a meeting "to win absolutely" to stay "ahead" of this team in the world rankings, said Wednesday the coach of the attack of the Blues Laurent Labit.

Q: How did you find the players in training?

A: "Very, very good. There are a lot of smiles and a lot of fun to get together. We were looking forward to having players to train. We came to see them regularly as we always have. 'never cut the link. The idea for us was not to start from scratch at each rally. The players, we kept them in the project. "

Q: Are the players still as dashing as they were at the start of the year?

A: "Yes. Honestly, that's what we noticed when we passed by to see them in the clubs. They took advantage of the confinement to regenerate, recover, then make a real preparation. Some clubs were disturbed by the Covid but they made a good preparation. We felt the players indeed in very, very good shape. That's what we have seen since they arrived. We took the time, Monday and Tuesday, to do a lot We decided to put in the middle (of the week) the only high intensity session we wanted high quality. That was the case. "

Q: Is it a puzzle to compose the team or do you place yourself in a continuity?

A: "Puzzles, there are always some and that's what we want. We have a group of 90 players that we have been following since November, that we feed regularly. We have worked with 55 players during the Tournament period. So we have a sizeable group. We have players in positions that we absolutely want to confirm and play. But there are also positions where we have less certainty. "

Q: Do you want to make an evolution in the game?

A: "Of course, there is an evolution. When we announced our project at the beginning, we said that we had to have an intelligent rugby that wins, with our qualities and our faults too. After four matches and the In hindsight, we saw certain things that we could bring with the qualities of our players and also the connections for some who play in the same club. We will indeed try from Saturday to bring changes in our game ( ...) with several identified playmakers. That's why we spent time with the players before this gathering to save time. "

Q: Is it an additional constraint to only be able to field each player for a maximum of three match sheets?

A: "No, that is absorbed quite easily. We started with the idea of ​​a France group and we had already worked with 55 players during the Tournament. We said it even though we had only caped 29 players. Players were not very far away and we worked. We first have a match against Wales who will come back vengeful after what happened in the Six Nations Tournament (27-23 victory of Blues in Cardiff in February, Ed). Then we have the Tournament to finish. We have an opportunity to win it and it would be good in the period we are in. "

Q: How are you approaching this preparation match?

A: "For us this is not a preparation match. This team was ahead of us in the world ranking not long ago. The world ranking is important for us. We won at home, we know in what state of spirit they will come. We also know that we must absolutely win this match to stay ahead of them in the world rankings (France 6th, Wales 7th, Editor's note) and especially to prepare Ireland well. "

Comments gathered during a press briefing

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