At the Millenium Stadium, the XV de France faces the wall of away games

• First away game for the XV de France in the 2020 6 Nations Tournament
• The Blues have not imposed themselves on Welsh lands since 2010
• The men of Fabien Galthié get in condition to finally bring down the barrier of the match away

Barely time to breathe. After its inaugural success against England, the XV of France has barely had time to take advantage of its annual walk against Italy and take three days of rest as it is again facing the second wall of its 2020 tournament: stuff yourself Wales, at the Millennium Stadium. In other words, the French executioner of the 2019 World Cup, outside. Double trouble. We pass on the first point, fresh enough in the memories not to have to spread over it. The trips of the France team, however, let's talk about it. Apart from Squadra, the Blues' last success in the VI Nations tournament goes back to a time when Romain Ntamack passed his certificate.

Last away win by opponent

• Against Italy: 14-25 in 2019
• Against Scotland: 17-19 in 2014
• Against Ireland: 22-25 in 2011
• Against Wales: 20-26 in 2010
• Against England: 17-18 in 2005

Desperate regularity in the mediocrity outside which, it is important to specify, the XV of France is not the only owner. All of rugby in France claims it. Bernard Le Roux, at a press conference in Marcoussis. "There are French teams that have a hard time traveling, even when you look at the Top 14 and all that ... It starts to be better with the new generations but at the time you won at home and you lost elsewhere. »Evil which gnaws surprisingly less at our friends across the Channel.

“The Anglo-Saxons, says former coach Marc Lièvremont, no doubt have a slightly more Cartesian, more rigorous and less emotional approach to the event. They are perhaps less sensitive to this aspect of home game, away game. Things are somewhat balanced with the professionalism and the contribution of these Anglo-Saxon or foreign players here, but there is always this small inferiority complex which makes us tend to be at first on a a little defensive attitude outside, to undergo events, not to impose his game and be content to counter. Which can be fatal. "

Fickou glides in the wing against the Welsh, Poirot dismissed by Galthié via @ 20minutesSport https://t.co/ERTneu0syO

Fatal being the polite version of catastrophic, if we refer to the 2019 tournament. A humiliation among the English, and, perhaps worse, a first half spent in our 22 with Irish arch-dominators whistling. "We must not forget the overall context either, there have been difficulties for our national team in recent seasons to win outside and at home," tempers Lièvremont.

Hell of the millennium

Good and bad news. The good thing is that the team has another face in 2020. The arrival of Galthié in the staff and then as a coach allowed the XV of France to start catching up with months, if not years, of rugby delay. If the progression continues, we still want to believe that this group will eventually win outside. The bad news is that this first away game is played in the worst possible place. The worst for Bernard Le Roux, in any case. “I have already played the Millennium twice. Once against the All-Blacks (defeat 62-13), it was not a very good memory in the quarterfinals of the World Cup (laughs). And another where I was a substitute against Wales. "

They will know little about the place before setting foot on the lawn for the captain's run the day before the match (six in total). And since it is not by experience, it is by transmission that the psychological conditioning of the match in Cardiff must be done. François Cros: “I don't know if we can prepare for an atmosphere, but in any case we are trying to do it. Fabien really communicates about this stage, so that we are not surprised on the day of the match. "Le Roux, in detail:" He told us about the stadium, about the noise that there will be in this stadium. He prepared us. He explained to us what will happen when we are there, how we are going to do it, not to take the lead, not to put pressure on ourselves and rather see it as a positive energy. Marc Lièvremont, even more in detail:

“The Millennium is a real cauldron. Welsh choirs, hymns, all that… The scenography that the Welsh people have put in place for a few seasons with the lights, the atmosphere… It sets the scene and somewhere it is both made to impress the team that moves but also galvanize Welsh players. "

Great, but suddenly how do we win outside?

Question con. By playing like at home, of course. "I must tell you that it changes nothing, it remains a rugby field," advises Le Roux. Return strong without procrastinating to make the opponent doubt. Lièvremont, the last French coach to win in Welsh lands, remembers a good first half for his team in 2010. The perfect trap, 20-0 at the break, then a second whole period to suffer (with a Michalak trickery to conclude). If it is only that, all is well, it is the game plan that the Blues have mastered the best for a year.

"The first 20 minutes may be terrible," warns the former coach, who gives his keys to a first success at the Millennium in ten years. “Do not present yourself as an outsider, succeed in taking control of this team, to silence the public. When possible, set the tempo of the match. In short, don't be afraid. "But afraid of what? Asks Le Roux. From an eighth rank defeat on the other side of the English Channel in the Six Nations tournament, for example?

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