From nothingness to a conquering Crunch, how the Blues have metamorphosed

• The XV of France beat England on Sunday in the first match of the VI Nations Tournament.
• This victory lays the foundations for a revival, after the takeover of the selection by Fabien Galthié following the failure of the World Cup.
• The coach and the players are delighted with this very successful first, and give their feeling about this new French team.

At the Stade de France,

In tatters, with a huge building site in front of it to become again a nation which really matters… This is roughly how we saw the XV of France when arriving around the Stade de France, Sunday, around 3pm. Oh, we were not there to book our evening of October 21, 2023 to be sure we could celebrate the title of world champion of the Blues by coming out a few hours later, we do not have that short memory, but still. It is an understatement to say that this rejuvenated French team has amazed its world by driving over England for an hour, before finishing on oxygen but never giving the impression of panicking.

The little Blues have shown against England that they have a future via @ 20minutesSport https://t.co/GwKgcsvAjh

It is not only the final score that matters, but the way. This ability to garner points on each highlight, this rough defense, disciplined at crucial moments, to the point of scraping boiling balloons, where the Blues had accustomed us to soap cooked balls and go to the fault least flurry of opponents. We force the line, but the essential is there. “We said we were young, inexperienced, all that, but we had the four months of the World Cup and lived it together, defends Antoine Dupont. We still knew where we were going. "

Sorry Antoine, but if our memories of the group matches in Japan do not betray us, it was not so obvious. One can very well imagine, however, that Fabien Galthié and his staff knew how to build on what already existed to build their project, very precise from the start. "The work done over the past two weeks, by the players, the staff but also by the clubs and the Federation, has made the team successful," said the coach. These are small details which, at the exit, made a very great victory and a great satisfaction. "

The work done in particular by Shaun Edwards, the new defense coach, is to be commended. We will come back to this at length very soon. Overall, the good vibrations felt in Nice since January 21, the day of the gathering of the 42 players originally called to prepare for the Tournament, found resonance on the field.

"We forced ourselves to be cold, not to have too many emotions"

And the fact that it was not the best England in history opposite does not change anything. It was a Crunch, a true baptism of fire for this team with 13 average caps, and the way in which it fared is remarkable. "We forced ourselves all day to be cold, not to have too many emotions, to stay focused on performance," said Charles Ollivon, who will long remember his first as captain with his two tries.

This is enough to push Eddie Jones to make amends, he who had promised hell to the little Blues. "I think we haven't given France enough credit," said the English coach. It was exceptional. Even when it blew very hard in the last quarter of an hour, following the double from Jonny May, the Blues did not fold. As so often in the past. Antoine Dupont:

When they scored, some harmful thoughts could have arrived, but they were quickly evacuated. We got together and said to ourselves that we were going to lift our heads, that we were fine in this match, that we were going to keep confidence, confidence, confidence. We have not dissociated ourselves. "

It is perhaps there, ultimately, the greatest advance of this XV of France. Having held the victory against the English, in the rain, in a suffocating end of the match, that poses a group for you. "We showed that we were all together, there was no panic," says Paul Willemse. We worked to be there for 80 minutes, not 40. The training was tough, but we knew why. "

And yes, it was to be able to resist everything, take out a saving tackle 5 meters from its line (the legion for Dupont!) Or prevent an Englishman from flattening by putting his hand where it is needed (thank you Bouthier). Without forgetting, either, this first hour of high-flying play during which the French outclassed their opponents. “We scored three tries for the English. We showed real offensive know-how, ”recalls Galthié. It was not the sector that worried us the most with the talents that had already shown themselves at the World Cup, but it is damn good to see that that, it has not changed.

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XV of France: Work, group spirit and internal bickering ... Nice, holy land of the revival of the Blues

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