Among rugby fans, the "waffle" is part of the classic palette of words used to designate a punch, just like the mornifle or cinder block.
But this term has taken a big facelift in recent weeks with the appearance of #gaufregate on social networks, in the wake of the announcement of numerous Covid-19 contaminations within the France team.
This hashtag this time had to do with the pastry and the trip of the Blues to Rome on February 6, to face Italy.
Several players have chosen to go and taste waffles in the Italian capital.
An outing which, three weeks later, found itself in the crosshairs of the authorities responsible for enforcing the health rules decided for this competition.
Because the Blues must respect a "health bubble" in the face of the Cocid-19 pandemic during the Six Nations Tournament.
"I don't think it was marked in the protocol that the players were going to be able to eat waffles. Or in any case, if they went out to eat waffles, they had to be retested when they returned to the bubble in contact with others. . So we want to know if this has been done because it is the conditions of entry and exit in the bubble which make that there is a bubble ", declared the Minister of Sports, Roxana Maracineanu, on February 26 on BFMTV .
This question is one of the many questions from the Minister of Sports about the appearance of a cluster within the XV of France, which led to the postponement of the match against Scotland scheduled for February 28 at the Stade de France.
It is in this framework that the president of the French Rugby Federation (FFR) was tasked with carrying out an investigation to determine the origin of the contaminations and point out possible violations of the protocol.
A permeable "sanitary bubble"
The content of this document is valuable, given that Roxana Maracineanu threatened to withdraw the FFR's right to participate in the most prestigious European competition.
"If nothing is happening and if we do not look for this chain of contamination and we do not explain how it could have happened, the authorization granted to the France team may be withdrawn, "she warned.
Aware of the urgency of the situation, the president of the FFR, Bernard Laporte, has been working for ten days to be reassuring.
He who said in mid-January that the Federation would be "exemplary" by scrupulously respecting "the health bubble" set up around the Blues, tries to explain how several clusters have developed, practically at the same time, within four French teams (women, under 20, men and rugby sevens).
The protocol which proved its worth during the Autumn Nations Cup will be further strengthened.
A strict health bubble with twice as many tests.
Prevent, detect and contain.
We will be exemplary.
https://t.co/i8hrERY0Hf
- Bernard Laporte (@BernardLaporte_) January 14, 2021
In the various interviews he gave, he reiterated that this "health bubble" did not imply total isolation of the players provided they wear a mask, like coach Fabien Galthié.
The latter allowed himself an outing at the Jean Bouin stadium, located in the west of Paris, the day after his return from Rome, to go see his son, who came with Colomiers' hopes, play against the French Stadium.
If Fabien Galthié's schedule is studied with a lot of attention, it is because he was one of the first to test positive on February 16.
Other members of the management then also revealed to have been contaminated, before the scrum-half Antoine Dupont did the same three days later.
And the cascade of cases that followed forced the FFR to request a postponement of the match against the Scots, which could be replayed at the end of March.
A delicate context for the players
The report entrusted to Christian Dullin, secretary general of the FFR, is supposed to explain the origin of these contaminations and how they think they can avoid them in the future.
They have already announced that they will give up calling on players from outside the France group during training in opposition, this practice having probably favored the development of clusters.
And international players will have even less freedom of movement in the future.
French rugby is playing its international credibility, the other nations participating in the Six Nations Tournament not having, to date, a cluster to deplore.
But the president of the FFR is also playing big.
On the one hand, because he himself is singled out for his lack of rigor in the application of prevention rules.
According to the daily L'Équipe, he thus took a commercial flight to Rome, while the rest of the group traveled, as agreed with the Interministerial Crisis Unit (CIC), in a private plane.
On the other hand, it will have to demonstrate its capacity to effectively manage this crisis, in particular by taking sanctions if they are necessary.
The detractors of the president of the FFR underline the mistakes of Bernard Laporte and his vice-president, Serge Simon, who assumes the role of "Covid-manager", and ask for the realization of an independent and transparent investigation.
Abused, Bernard Laporte also asked the employees of the Federation not to spread "false rumors" and to know how to show "solidarity" in this crisis, under penalty of having to quit their work.
It remains to be seen whether the strong tensions that currently reign within the Federation and the French team can reflect on the performance of French players, authors of a good start to the Tournament with two victories in Italy and Ireland.
The selected are preparing to return to the National Rugby Center in Marcoussis, in the Paris region, to prepare for the next meeting of the XV of France, scheduled for March 13 in London against England.
Provided of course that this health crisis ends and that this ambitious XV of France can continue to play the Tournament.
The summary of the week
France 24 invites you to come back to the news that marked the week
I subscribe
Take international news everywhere with you!
Download the France 24 application
google-play-badge_FR