Baptiste Serin is one of the players who had already come to Nice in August - Frederic DIDES / SIPA

  • The XV de France is preparing its first match of the 6 Nations Tournament against England in Nice.
  • Not a first for the French rugby players, who had passed through the Côte d'Azur before flying to the World Cup.
  • A stage which marked "the starting point of the construction of this team", according to Serge Simon.

The ground squared according to the precepts of prof Fabien Galthié - absent on the occasion - the torture sessions of Thibault Giroud and a training placed under the sign of the now sacrosanct high intensity. All in Nice, far from the CNR de Marcoussis. Everything in the current living environment of the XV of France recalls the summer preparation of the Blues on the sidelines of the World Cup in Japan, except for the 15-16 degrees ambient and a more timid sun. This time, no long trip or World Cup on the horizon, "just" a crunch at the opening of the 6 Nations Tournament.

But the guiding idea is the same: "We wanted a prep in the most pleasant conditions possible," explains Serge Simon, vice-president of the FFR. Here we are in the south, it's perfect. Several sites had been studied, but Nice had already hosted the XV of France in addition to having infrastructures quite at the level. "

"This is the starting point for building this team"

Not ideal for reproducing the conditions of match that the French will meet in Wales or Ireland in February, the local climate has the merit of preserving the organisms from possible injuries, especially muscular. And then between us, a sun cure has never hurt anyone. "It's good, it's not the snow of Paris", forces Jefferson Poirot, as happy to flee Marcoussis, where the team will return after the reception of the English at the Stade de France, than to find a well known place . “We prepared well this summer here, we had a good time so it's good to be able to come back. "

Somewhere, the French Riviera cannot be dissociated from the arrival of Fabien Galthié in reinforcement of Jacques Brunel, the new staff and the new methods which led to the promising failure against Wales, therefore by extension of the revival of the XV of France. Serge Simon:

“This is really the start of the adventure. Nice, Spain, the internship on the Côte d'Azur. This is the starting point for building this team. This is where we thought that something was being built. We felt that something was happening because a new staff had just arrived and we saw that there was a fairly natural adhesion to the methods proposed by Fabien Galthié and Thibault Giroud. However, they put in place very, very hard things. We could have feared that players would face up to the difficulty, but on the contrary, it created a bond and a strong group spirit. There were a thousand reasons why it doesn't work when you think about it, as this team was under negative pressure. And finally we come out by perceiving an encouraging potential. "

Who is Thibault Giroud, the shadow man and executioner of the XV of France? https://t.co/NIXn6u493B

- 20 Minutes (@ 20Minutes) September 18, 2019

Nice is also the place where everything could go in peanuts on the question of the management of free time and other more or less lively outings of players. “When you leave for a World Cup, continues the right arm of Bernard Laporte, it is a kind of boat trip where you will meet the same guys 24/24 with immense pressure. It is in your interest, as on the high seas, to have certain clear rules. At the end of August, just before the first test match against Scotland, the "doctor" conducted a reframing operation around the players' outings and tried - according to L'Equipe - to be supported by Jefferson Poirot, who refers to the captain of the time, Guilhem Guirado.

Meetings and compromises

We tried to extract a word on the question from the Bordeaux pillar, to no avail. Again, we rely on the vice-president's account. "There were discussions to explain that it was going to be long and that if after a few days everyone stepped on it, it was not going to do it." The idea was to go as far as possible and for that it was absolutely necessary to reconcile the sportsman with the life of a group of vigorous young men who need to live and whom you cannot enclose in a monastic framework. There were plenary meetings, side discussions. A bit of everything, finally. "

Friday, the 28 players of the XV of France retained in Nice by Fabien Galthié will be at rest. The opportunity for Poirot and the others to “take a little tour [in town] to get some fresh air, so as not to remain confined to our hotel. To spend time together and get to know each other better, things like that that are also important to us. »Of course taking care this time not to break the rules of life laid down here even months ago.

Sport

XV of France: Fabien Galthié delivers his list of 28 players for the Crunch (without Thomas Ramos)

  • Sport
  • Rugby
  • 6 Nations
  • XV of France
  • Nice
  • Fabien Galthié