It would be a lie to say that everything was perfect, but the Blues, sluggish against Argentina last weekend (29-20), made a copy much closer to their standards against Georgia. By winning (41-15), Sunday, November 14, in a sold-out Matmut-Atlantique de Bordeaux, Fabien Galthié’s players were able to respond to the physical challenge offered by rough Georgians. The latter, weighed down by their indiscipline and stifled slowly by the rhythm imposed by the Blues, ended up exploding.
Contrary to what the suitcase score inflicted by the Blues might suggest, the second meeting in history between these two nations (after the 64-7 in favor of the Blues at the 2007 World Cup) did not rhyme with a healthy stroll. To respond to the aggressiveness of the Georgians, the staff of the XV of France had chosen to densify its pack of forwards. What to offer a heavy and powerful pack (939 kg against 894 kg). If the Blues sometimes retreated, they controlled while mastering the assaults of the Lelos.
At the same time, the Dupont-Jalibert hinge imposed a sustained rhythm in attack to put the day’s opponents out of steam, even if it means sometimes conceding a few blunders. Nevertheless, the Blues were on the right track. Author of a double, winger Damian Penaud went to a hand (that of Tabutsadze, faster) to register the first try of the meeting in the second minute. Grégory Alldritt also failed after a combination in touch between Dupont and Penaud.
It is also this sector of the touch, and to a lesser extent that of the scrum, which allowed the Blues to extricate themselves from the Georgian pincers: a touch well conducted for a penalty try (24th), another nabbed by Woki at Lelos materialized by the first blue try of Matthieu Jalibert (32nd), a scrum at five meters for the conclusion of Penaud (36th). With a score of 24-3 and 3 tries to nothing, the Blues had done the hardest at the break.
To fly to the score, the XV of France learned from its mistakes, at least for a period. Penalized six times against Argentina in 25 minutes, he was only penalized twice in the first period on Sunday. If he fell back into his failings after the break, the job was done and the Georgians, too worn out to hope to return. They, who have also greatly sinned by their indiscipline, with no less than 12 faults conceded in the first 40 minutes and two yellow cards (15th, 24th).
Despite the inaccuracies, the XV of France brings back six tries. If this victory is not a reference against a valiant Georgia team, the XV of France was reassured and allowed the doublet Jalibert-Ntamack to present part of its brilliant palette. An essential point to allow the group to garner a little confidence before tackling the last shock of this fall tour against the All Blacks, on November 20.