"Catch Dupont!"
The instructions are relayed by the specialized site Rugby Pass which interviewed Johnny Mitchell, defense coach for the XV de la Rose, for the England - France match which will take place on Saturday March 13 at Twickenham.
Because for him, this "very good player has a huge influence on the way the French team plays".
And the English are logically wary of the exceptional qualities of Antoine Dupont who had been crowned Best Player of the Six Nations Tournament in the previous edition.
24-year-old Antoine Dupont is part of a very talented generation of players who have helped France move up to third place in the world rankings, just ahead of England.
The Blues started this Six Nations Tournament very well, with two victories against Italy and Ireland.
And they hope to confirm against the English, favorite enemies of the Blues.
The sporting record of the English team in this Tournament is much less brilliant since they only have one victory, against Italy, against two defeats, at home against Scotland and away against the country. of Wales.
A disappointing course in view of the brilliant results obtained in recent years by the XV de la Rose, reigning vice-world champion.
"It is a team which is only a shadow of itself, compared to the rugby produced in 2019 at the World Cup", explained to France 24 the former French international Olivier Magne, who faced 8 times the English during his career in the framework of the Five Nations Tournament, then the Six Nations with the integration of Italy in 2000. "We can clearly see that there is an internal concern among the English" , he analyzes.
Galthié vaccinated against the Covid-19 crisis
According to Olivier Magne, the English need time to regain their automatisms and their cohesion.
They may suddenly find it difficult to compete on Saturday against a formidable team of France which has experienced a rise in power for a year and the arrival of a new technical staff at its head.
"Everything is possible of course in sport. But given the dynamics of the two teams, there is a certain logic in seeing the Blues win," he explains.
Conversely, French rugby players should be wary of overconfidence, knowing that they risk undergoing a reaction of pride from the English, strongly criticized for several weeks.
And they also need to find their marks after a very hectic month in which they played very little together.
Scheduled for February 28 against Scotland, their third match in this competition has been postponed due to a large number of Covid-19 contaminations within the France group.
The appearance of a large cluster then sparked a heated controversy and led the Ministry of Sports to request an investigation report from the French Rugby Federation (FFR).
This document finally exonerated the management of the Blues of any fault or violation of the health protocol put in place for this competition.
And his conclusions notably reinforced the coach of the France team, Fabien Galthié, suspected of not having respected the "health bubble" set up around the group.
"All my actions, all our actions, have been in full compliance with the health protocol," said Fabien Galthié at a press conference on March 11.
A full French workforce
The coach also recalled that "zero risk does not exist", asking players and management to be extra vigilant.
New protective measures were thus put in place this week at the Marcoussis National Rugby Center to prepare for the "crunch" against England, by restricting interactions with people outside the group even more strictly.
The absence of new cases of Covid-19 has allowed the management to focus only on rugby and its goal of victory in this edition of the Tournament, a competition that the Blues have not won for ten years.
To win this title, they must achieve a real feat on Saturday, the French having won at Twickenham for the last time in the Tournament in 2005, with only one point ahead (17-18).
They had almost beaten the English on their lawn last December, losing little in the final of the Autumn Nations Cup (22-19).
For this meeting, the France team was deprived of many executive players, such as the three quarter-center Virimi Vakatawa or the French captain Charles Ollivon.
Valuable players who will be back on Saturday in the tricolor jersey, with the firm intention of striking a blow in England.
🏴⚡️🇫🇷
Our #XVdeFrance is on the Twickenham lawn with the ambition to win!
Here are the 23 selected by the staff 👇
Allez les Bleus!
🇫🇷 # NeFaisonsXV #ANGFRA pic.twitter.com/7EVxgvSDqK
- France Rugby (@FranceRugby) March 11, 2021
"The French must now succeed in creating fear, by winning matches despite the moments of weakness they may experience. They must show the other teams that they know how to win," concludes Olivier Magne.
He has known several players who will wear the tricolor jersey on Saturday when he was one of the coaches of the France Under-20 team between 2014 and 2016. And he knows that their talent and maturity can allow them to succeed. shine against the English.
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