Rugby/6 Nations: as in 2010 against the English, France in search of the Grand Slam
Frenchman Antoine Dupont.
AP - Francois Mori
Text by: Farid Achache Follow
3 mins
The XV of France, the last undefeated team in the Tournament, can hope to win its first Grand Slam since 2010, the tenth in its history.
For that, we will have to beat England, Saturday March 19 at the Stade de France.
Advertising
Read more
In the rearview mirror, the first Grand Slam of the Blues dates back to 1968. It will take nine years to see the French repeat the feat.
Nine times in the history of the Tournament, France has managed to make the Grand Slam.
The last time was in 2010, also against England (12-10).
A performance that always devotes great players and great captains.
"
It's a game like any other
"
In 2010, - as today -, the English who remained on four victories against the Blues had nothing to gain, but intended to deprive the men of Marc Lievremont of the Grail.
"
We want to spoil the party, deprive France of the Grand Slam, and reduce the Stade de France to silence
," warned Mike Tindall.
In the rain, Thierry Dussautoir's teammates had not collapsed in this decisive Crunch* (*name given to a meeting between England and France, editor's note).
The XV of the rose dominated the second half, but the defense of the French team held firm.
The XV of France won for the twenty-fifth time in the Tournament, thus achieving the ninth Grand Slam in its history.
Saturday, for Romain Ntamack it will be "
a match like any other
".
“
We talk a lot about the Crunch, it's true.
We approach it like the other matches against the big nations.
There's nothing special about it.
France-England are always great matches, they are always very hard to beat.
This weekend, they will give us a lot of trouble
, ”underlines the opening half within the Toulouse stadium.
Deprive the Blues of Grand Slam
Grégory Alldritt, the third row of the Blues, says that England is a team that has "
character
".
“
We know that they will come without the ambition of a final victory, of course, but if we reversed the situation, we would be the first to want to deprive them of a Grand Slam at Twickenham.
The motivation for them, it is all found
, ”says Alldritt.
"
It's a team with great players.
She still had a hell of a game against Ireland with one player less
(32-15 defeat with a player sent off after two minutes, editor's note).
We know it's going to be complicated.
The Crunch is always a complicated match, there is a special context around this match.
We know it won't be easy
“Says the player from La Rochelle (24 years old, 30 caps).
France had fallen to the English in the 2003 and 2007 World Cups in the semi-finals.
In 2009, during the Six Nations Tournament, intoxicated by its courageous but deceptive success against Wales (21-16), the XV of France suffered a real humiliation for its first trip to Twickenham since taking office. coach Marc Lievremont (34-10).
Under the laughter of 80,000 spectators, the English, however moribund, inflict a bitter 29 to 0 in the first period on the French overwhelmed.
Coach Fabien Galthié assures him: “
We learned from our defeats and our second places
” in previous tournaments.
This new generation, which includes in its ranks Antoine Dupont, named Best Player in the World World Rugby in 2021, will it be able to take up the challenge?
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Rugby
France