It was well worth it to have taken out the shine brush to praise the beginnings of cannon matches of the XV of France, well ... Impeccable in the start since the start of the VI Nations, the XV of France made the exact opposite on Sunday Murrayfield with the key, a severe defeat (28-17) against Scotland which deprives the Blues of the grand slam and perhaps even the first place of the tournament.
Hence this question: should we descend to earth after believing since the arrival of Fabien Galthié at the helm that the XV of France was going to crush everything in its path? Asking the question is already answering it ... Even if we don't have to go into depression, matches with so many hiccups and blows of fate, there won't be any every weekend.
A cataclysmic start to the match
The trademark of this new French team therefore shattered on Sunday. It is not complicated, nothing worked as expected against the Scots who were determined not to let the French play their game from the start. Things had started badly with Camille Chat's injury from the warm-up, replaced on the bench by the young Toulouse driver Peato Mauvaka.
Then the emmerdes flew in a squadron with, in order, the yellow card of François Cros (5th), the definitive exit of Romain Ntamack after an inconclusive concussion protocol (8th), and, above all, the red of Haouas after a big punch in Ritchie's truffle (37th).
🏉 Mohamed Houas excluded for a punch during a general fight. The Blues will play at 14 until the end of the game. France Rugby
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Charles Ollivon refused to speak of bad luck on the microphone of France Télé just after the meeting. " I do not believe it. We missed a lot of things ... It's difficult to debrief hot. I already want to think about the next thing, ”he said before heading to the locker room. Lack of pot or stupidity, at the finish these numerical inferiorities weighed heavily on the final score.
“We played almost 55 minutes at 14, at this level, even with the best of wills, it is not easy, conceded Fabien Galthié after the match. And then we took two tries at the very end of the first half and at the very beginning of the second on the same scenario. We could have easily avoided that because on this type of action we simply have to defend together but we did not manage to be consistent on these weak times. "
First defeat in the Galthié era
This defeat synonymous with farewell to the grand slam came to remind this group "still under construction", says the coach, that the road to the summits is still long and that the inflames of the beginning of the Galthié era must be tempered. “We will learn from this defeat. We are a group under construction and we will remain united. We will assume and then we will work, "promises Ollivon, already thinking of the next match against Ireland, Saturday night at the Stade de France.
"We have a nice challenge to take up," concludes Galthié, who refuses to draw hasty conclusions after this first defeat since his appointment. So we will do the same. After all, this team is still in the race to win the tournament even if the case now looks much more cotton than expected, England now having a better difference in points in the standings (+15 against +13).
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