surprised a week ago at Murrayfield, the XV of France got back on track by reacting to the forceps against Scotland (30-27), Saturday in Saint-Etienne, for their second preparation match for world Cup.
A little less than a month before the XXL opening match against the All Blacks on September 8, the Blues showed their muscles, scoring three tries by opener Romain Ntamack (32nd), winger Damian Penaud ( 42nd) and the third line Charles Ollivon (44th) then holding on against the Scottish reaction thanks to a penalty from the back Thomas Ramos (78th) at the very end of the match.
They thus avoid a second loss in a row, which would have been a first under the mandate of Fabien Galthié. The Tricolores also offer themselves a fourth success against this same opponent, in seven oppositions since January 2020.
Grégory Alldritt, third line of the France team, after the victory against Scotland 30-27, reacted to the microphone of TF1: “We said it all week, the objective was to win. It’s done and more in a crazy atmosphere. It was a pleasure. We want to win, we want to win all the matches, there are no friendly matches. It’s a test match and we all want to win it. »
For his part, Fabien Galthié, coach of the France team, after the 30-27 victory preferred to temper: “The Scots started their preparation a month before us. We decided to recover the players in mid-July but we assume it, we have four weeks of preparation left and even during the World Cup we have time to develop on the first four matches. »
Faced with an almost typical team, with eleven holders present during the last match of the 2023 Six Nations Tournament, the XV du Chardon exposed the shortcomings of the Blues in the first ten minutes, the time that the French machine, certain elements of which did not have played the most since the Top 14 final on June 17, get going. And rebelotte at the end of the second period, with three tries scored in twenty minutes.
During the week, captain Jamie Ritchie had explained that his XV du Thistle intended to start strong. The third line was obviously listened to: the Scots put a lot of pace at the start, leading 10-3 after ten minutes and a try from winger Kyle Steyn (5th), taking Fabien Galthié’s men by the throat .
But these Blues, with the return of so-called “premium” players, know how to manage complicated matches. Despite the fatigue, legitimate after long weeks of preparation without a match, Antoine Dupont’s teammates showed that they were hungry for the ball.
Starting with Romain Ntamack (32nd), who took advantage of the spaces to build on the French numerical superiority, following the yellow card of scrum half Ali Price (29th). Everything was not perfect, like the breakthrough of winger Gabin Villière (70th), probably a little too greedy after 511 days of absence in Blue and two seasons complicated by injuries.
Despite the reminder of the big arms, the French have not managed to forget the hanging air pocket of last week. Two stabs, at the start of the second period, in Scottish morale, however, seemed sufficient: Penaud (42nd) thus signed his twenty-seventh international try, his fifth against this opponent since January 2020, before Ollivon (44th) does not register a third test which seemed decisive.
But, like a week ago in Edinburgh, the XV du Chardon finished strong. Very strong. As clumsy as they were undisciplined (11 penalties conceded), the Scots nevertheless made the Habs tremble, long serene and full of control.
Until the tries of the wingers Duhan van der Merwe (63rd) and Kyle Steyn (73rd) or the third line Rory Darge (69th) did not expose the deficiencies of the men of Fabien Galthié.
And if some have sometimes shown signs of less well, like the pillar Cyril Baille (right calf) or the opener Romain Ntamack (left knee), the Blues have provided the essentials with this saving penalty from Ramos, showing that they will have to be reckoned with during the World Cup at home.
Because the French, after the opening match against New Zealand, will have to avoid giving in to popular pressure to extricate themselves from a group A a priori within their reach, with also Italy, Namibia and Italy. ‘Uruguay.
Then will come a terrible quarter-final, against the South African world champions or the Irish world N.1. Even these same Scots, the only ones to have beaten France at home.
It was March 2021 and a 27-23 victory at the Stade de France. But, in Geoffroy-Guichard, the lair of the Greens, the Blues have found their colors and that’s all that matters twenty-seven days before the World Cup.
