London (AFP)

They are imposing their law.

The overpowering French second line, formed by Paul Willemse and Romain Taofifenua, made the powder speak to help the Blues hold their own against England on Saturday in the Six Nations Tournament.

Omnipresent, a symbol of the dedication of a French team to the spirit of rediscovered victory, the Taofifenua-Willemse duo have kept their rank.

For a first French victory on English soil since 2007, it will be necessary to wait two more years but the two fellows, them, have strictly respected the instructions of aggressiveness and "rush defense", these rapid climbs towards the adversary. decreed by defense coach Shaun Edwards, the 54-year-old Englishman serving the Blues.

With 24 tackles between them two at the break (11 for Taofifenua, 13 for Willemse), they even held the head of the Blues out of the water, by dint of solidarity, in the heart of twenty intense minutes in the first period, at the limit of suffocation.

And if the French line has cracked, neither one nor the other could do much: the action of Watson, on the right wing, is far from their zone of play, upwind, in the heart of the game, where it all happened against the vice world champions.

And "Tao" was not on the field when Maro Itoje went to pick the Blues cold at the very end of the game.

In the end, the absence of Bernard Le Roux (46 caps), usual pack leader forfeited due to a muscle injury, went almost unnoticed.

Because Fabien Galthié and his staff had planned a high tonnage alternative.

Taofifenua (30 years old, 22 selections) was associated in the cage with Willemse (28 years old, 14 selections) to form an XXL team: 2 m and 126 kgs for the Toulousain, 2m and 125 kgs for the Montpellier.

- Warm in front -

Two colossi to hold the confrontation announced by Eddie Jones and his men.

And the challenge was met with flying colors.

"Romain has been with us since the start of the adventure: he took part in the first internship in Nice before France - England (in 2020, Editor's note). He was not on this first match sheet but he was on the following ones . He participated in all our training, he knows our organization well. And you know that the collective experience is something important at our level ... ", had justified the coach Fabien Galthié.

"We had to arbitrate on the collective experience and the profiles. It changes the profile of the team," said the coach.

When he came out on the hour mark, 'Tao' had added four more tackles to bring his total to seventeen.

To which must be added three balloons carried, six meters gained and two turnovers.

At the same time, the first lines Cyril Baille (11 tackles) and Julien Marchand (13 tackles) also contributed to the defensive structure, like the indispensable Grégory Alldritt (11 tackles) and the defense captain Gaël Fickou (14 tackles).

"It was complicated at the end, it's never easy at Twickenham ... We didn't do everything well but we have to learn from that and come back stronger next week", railed Willemse (18 tackles at the total).

As last January, at the opening of the 2020 Tournament, the Blues relied on a hyper aggressive and disciplined defense to put out the English attempts.

And suffocate the XV of the Rose.

The French have only conceded four tries since the start of the 2021 edition, including two from Anthony Watson (9th) and Maro Itoje (76th).

Sorry, good game.

© 2021 AFP