The joy of the France team after its victory against Wales on March 20, 2021 during the VI Nations Tournament.
-
Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP
The XV of France beat Wales on the 5th day of the VI Nations Tournament on Saturday.
The Blues were however badly embarked at the start of the last twenty minutes, and despite three attempts refused, they were able to go for victory.
A success which shows the strength of character of this group, which did not give in to panic.
At the Stade de France,
We try to blame them, at least a little, for the principle, after this story of a breakthrough bubble put roughly under the carpet, but we must recognize that this XV of France knows very well how to - also - do like.
A week after the end of the match to throw his
cup of tea out
the window at Twickenham, the Blues still raised our little hearts in the towers on Saturday against Wales.
This time with the sweet deliverance of victory.
There was that insanely intense first half, of course, with two teams going back to back, but those last 20 minutes we won't soon forget.
On the ropes after an end of the first act played backwards and a start of the second missed, sanctioned by a try from Adams, the French rebelled in the wake of the fourth Welsh try, magnificent but finally refused by the referee.
Then, we only saw blue on the lawn of the Stade de France.
“The players have shown character, appreciates Fabien Galthié.
They went to draw very far, all that they had at the bottom of them.
"
However, bad luck stuck to them.
A first try by Julien Marchand refused when no image allowed to get a precise idea of the situation under a cluster of players, then a second, for a fault by Paul Willemse unearthed after 43 slowdowns.
Worse, for having put his finger in the eye of a Welshman in the middle of the battle, the French second line was excluded.
But it was there, five minutes from the end and 14 against 15, that the magic worked.
After a third attempt refused to Charles Ollivon, anyway ...
"We were not given anything today, we had to go find things," recalls the captain, who finally forced Mr. Pierce to give the Blues a try in the 76th minute by making full use of a flush ball.
“We left everything on the pitch, but staying within the framework and the structure,” he explains.
We had to do simple things, put things in order because it's not the same to play at 14. But we also work on this kind of scenario in training, and it paid off.
"
No trial + red, the double penalty.
- Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP
"The team did not come out of the match, yet they could have done it several times because it was sometimes difficult to understand everything that was going on," adds Galthié.
If he praises the ability of his men to stay upright despite the headwinds, the coach was also a little surprised by the attitude of the Welsh, who completely cut off contact at the end of the match.
The fear of losing this grand slam that stretched out its arms to them has perhaps caught up with them a little.
Not the kind of house, anyway.
"It's a team that made the 2019 grand slam, which made the semi-final of the world cup, there they came to play a new grand slam, with a team with 60 selections on average ... Normally, they do not give up a round.
They still play twelve rounds out of twelve, but then they stopped boxing at eleven.
They let us box the 12th and we did it well, ”analyzes Fabien Goldmill Galthié.
The winning contest
"It's frustrating, very difficult to admit," admits for his part the New Zealand coach of Leek, Wayne Pivac, still "numb" like his players a few minutes after the final whistle.
“We lacked discipline in the last few minutes, it didn't help us.
"
The XV of France, he fought to the end.
Even when everyone thought Antonio had toast the last cartridge with a 79th-minute forward, they scrambled to challenge a very last ball, go play in the Welsh side and send Dulin to score the try for the wins off after a show of forwards.
Without belt or suspenders
“We were all very focused, excited, we absolutely wanted to score this try, breath Arthur Vincent, author of the decisive pass for his back.
I see Brice flatten, he gets up, it screams everywhere, it was crazy!
I had a hard time realizing what we had just done.
"We went to get it with the guts," said Anthony Jelonch, another of the "finishers" dear to the coach.
With guts, of course, but not just any old way either.
"There is nothing in this end of the match which is a coincidence", asserts Ollivon.
"Even if there was little time left, you had to be patient, keep clear-headed", adds Dulin.
Lucidity, at that moment?
Honestly, we don't really know how they did that on the pitch, because in the stands, everyone had given up on it for a long time, between the substitutes and the staff pushing very, very hard and a little more. high all the commentators standing bellow at every French charge.
Until deliverance, then.
And this victory which gives Fabien Galthié the impression of having plunged into a "pool of happiness".
Without belt or suspenders.
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