Maxime Lucu "does not want to overplay" in his role as Dupont's understudy

• Maxime Lucu has settled in the France team since the November tour after being convinced of his legitimacy in blue.

• Lining of the best player in the world Antoine Dupont, the number 9 of the UBB tells

  20 Minutes

  how he is preparing to change the meetings at the end of the match.

Revealed late in the top 14 after skimming the Pro D2 with Biarritz Olympique, his training club, Maxime Lucu thought for a long time that the French team was not for him.

Too high, too strong, too far.

And then he ended up convincing himself – and convincing the tricolor staff – that he could be the perfect understudy for Antoine Dupont as a scrum half, the guy sure to bring in a vital position when victory is still in the offing. lean to one side or the other, as against Ireland.

The 29-year-old confides in

before the trip to Scotland on Saturday.

After Ireland, Fabien Galthié said of you that you were totally “dedicated to the cause”.

What did it do to you when you found out?

It's always a pleasure.

When I return I have to respond to a specific scenario, and there on this match, with a tight context, it responded favorably.

I really wanted to show that I could do things well and complement the work of Antoine, who had produced 60 minutes of very good quality.

What I am asked is not to do too much, not to overplay, not to do anything, to achieve simple and calculated things so that the team can come back or keep the result.

I take great pleasure in it.

Do you finally have the feeling of having overcome your blue impostor syndrome?

I believe (smiles).

The first times I came in were often appearances, injury or covid replacements.

I wasn't necessarily in situations where I was involved in the thing.

I had a hard time getting into it, I knew I was going to come home on Wednesday or Thursday, humanly I wasn't good at it.

I didn't show the real Max, I didn't put what I had to put.

I was often more impressed than anything else to come to Marcoussis;

I didn't necessarily feel legitimate.

What was the trigger ?

It is to have missed the tour in Australia because of an injury.

At that moment I understood that I had a card to play and that I had to change my behavior if I wanted to wear the blue jersey.

I wanted to make a huge start to the season to taste that on the November tour, to show that I could be international.

Did the staff realize this immediately?

When I came before Argentina, during my interview with Fabien and the staff, I said: “I come here with a lot of desire and appetite, I come to be part of the group”.

Things like that before I didn't say them, not even in my head.

That week, Antoine was a little down and didn't train too much;

there were a lot of oppositions, a lot of situations where we could show what we were worth.

I was able to assimilate the game systems and assimilate what was expected of me, I tried to fit into that skin.

What exactly is it to be in the shoes of the substitute for the best player in the world?

Is it something we discuss with Fabien Galthié upstream?

We haven't had any discussions about my status, it's something you feel.

When I arrived, Antoine had just been promoted to captain and elected the best player in the world, so obviously I didn't have the legitimacy to compare myself to him.

I want to be complementary.

Brings him his class over 50, 60, 70 minutes, and me behind, I can't do Dupont because no one can do Dupont: I have to be able to bring something else.

The coach also pointed out that you work hand in hand with Antoine.

How does this translate?

We are often asked to step in as substitutes.

When you're in the in-goal or in the stands, you often see things that the starters can't see when they play.

So we try to bring small solutions to certain situations.

How do we play such a surplus, why this little overhand kick can lead to such a trial situation...

The only point a little less good with him was his footwork, and when we now see his length, including left foot, even that, he has it in his bow.

But I know he's asking for advice.

We are here to move forward together, not to get in the way.

The role of substitute has become very important, it must be appropriated, whatever the playing time.

How do you manage to appropriate this role?

I especially try not to overplay.

I still have in mind the image of my first match in Biarritz.

I resumed after a big injury and we lost 25-3 when I returned.

I wanted to show off and I did all the wrong things.

The first action is very important.

It's the action that puts me in the game, if I do it badly it can gamble, so I focus on simple things, like the first pass or the first clearance.

You were happy to have done your job against Ireland.

What is the scenario established before Scotland?

We worked on a scenario at the end of the match where we were in front.

Two points ahead, scrum for us, and ensure a clean camp exit.

We have also prepared scenarios where we are behind, with less than three minutes to play.

This does not mean that you have to score in the 78th minute, you can get a penalty by holding the ball.

These are scenarios that differ, you have to be lucid, we come back for these moments.

You were also unbeaten two years ago in Scotland before the pressure caught you.

Have you talked about it among yourselves?

We didn't talk about it any more than that… That match was typical of what the Scots can achieve at home.

We know that with them, cold blood will count.

This red card, the sleeping supporters, it can make us lose track.

We made a mistake by playing too much by hand at the start of the match, we responded to small provocations: these are small vices that you have to try not to have.

The group is quite healthy and serene, you just have to appropriate the decor.

For a year, we did not have an audience, these are situations that are beautiful to live.

Sport

XV of France: How Galthié and the Blues choose the VIPs who teach Marcoussis, from Cabrel, to Dujardin via Thomas Coville

• Antoine Dupont

• Scotland

• Sport

• 6 Nations

• XV of France

• Rugby

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