A week after their narrow success in Italy, the Blue did not go into detail in Cork (53-3), Saturday afternoon.
Like an air of Irish ballad. Even reduced to fourteen for the majority of the meeting, the French have largely imposed themselves in Ireland (53-3), Saturday, April 1, for their second match in this Six Nations Tournament. This success, together with an offensive bonus guaranteed from the 33rd minute and with nine tries in total, reassures the Blue, sluggish in Italy last week (22-12 victory). The players of the new tandem Gaëlle Mignot – David Ortiz thus remain in the race for the Grand Slam.
Was there a better way to really launch this new era of the XV of France? The adversity was too weak for any lesson to be learned, but the main thing this time lay elsewhere. Consolidating the automatisms and regaining confidence, for the new-look Bleues heckled in Parma last Sunday, were indeed priorities. The achievement was, in this sense, admirable, beating the Irish in proportions not seen since the beginning of the century.
More powerful, organized and better prepared than their adversaries, the French women were in working order from the start. Captain Audrey Forlani upwind (9th) and wing Caroline Boujard (13th) quickly gave relief to the good start of theirs. This dynamic could have been halted by the red card received by Annaëlle Deshayes (21st), for a tackle on the shoulder in an Irish header. But the Blues did not let go, cashing in on the disorderly green waves without flinching.
This iron defence, sometimes undermined, never broke in eighty minutes, which represents such satisfaction that this red card was never really felt. Better still, the French women started again with a double from Pauline Bourdon (28th, 32nd) and a conclusive breakthrough from Gabrielle Vernier (35th) to secure the bonus. From then on, it was a question of having fun while taking care of a difference in points which could count at the end of the Tournament.
Conquerors even at 14
Never satisfied against an overwhelmed Irish defense, the French have chained the tests. Agathe Sochat (54th) and Cyrielle Banet (59th) concluded conquering balls, before Charlotte Escudero took advantage of a numerically inferior but devastating scrum (75th). Because the pack did not have the monopoly of superiority, Vernier had meanwhile taken advantage of a good combination to sign his double (71st).
It will be necessary to wait for adversity to thicken to gauge the real potential of these Bleues, but the amuse-bouche served on Saturday afternoon promises. The next meetings, culminating in a hearty main course in a packed Twickenham to close the Tournament on April 29, will tell more about what Les Bleues version Ortiz-Mignot have in store.