And eleven. The XV of France does not stop any more. Victorious by one point against Australia to launch the Autumn Nations Series (30-29), on Saturday November 5, Fabien Galthié’s team extended what was already the best series of victories in the history of the French rugby team. If the outcome tipped in favor of very patient Blues, everything was not perfect.
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Abused during the Rugby Championship, finished in 3rd place, Australia wanted to mark its territory. Like the first scrum of the meeting, pressed, the Wallabies were sharper, but also more precise in the game at the foot at the start of the meeting. Barely two minutes after coming close to cashing in a try from Charles Ollivon (16th minute, invalidated because flattened in two stages), they took control of a sumptuous try from 80 meters (18th). As if they remember very well that they were the last to have tripped up the XV of France, in July 2021.
Despite the frustration of the invalidated first try, and a few sweats after Australia took control, the XV of France never gave up. Fabien Galthié’s players gradually made up for their delay in the first period, with penalties. Enough to stay in contact, before taking their opponent from behind in the last action of the first period, on a counter-ruck, to take the lead at the break (19-13). And the scenario repeated itself in the second act, after the new takeover of the Wallabies, with the Blues again able to pass them in front of them, less than five minutes from the end.
The eleventh success was not the easiest to get. During a balanced meeting, where each of the two formations led several times, the Blues were patient, going for the victory on a sublime try from Damian Penaud in the 76th minute. Everything will have been decided to a point, like the five previous clashes between the XV of France and the Wallabies, all concluded on a margin of three points maximum.
He may have lost the captaincy, in favor of the best player in the world Antoine Dupont, tonight it was he who was named man of the match, the evening he regained his place in the standard team. Best tricolor tackler (12) of the match, second player having won the most ball-in-hand meters in the pack, he shone with his hyperactivity.
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After eight months without playing together, there was excitement, expectation. After the good work of the B team during the summer tour in Japan, it was the turn of the “premium team”, as Fabien Galthié likes to call it, to find the front of the stage. But his start to the match gave the impression that he was missing certain benchmarks. As surprised by the adversity that presented itself to them, the Habs needed some break-in time.
Targeted by the Australian defense, like the enormous pressure exerted by Nick White on the first action, the captain, recently confirmed in his duties, has not always succeeded in organizing the collective play of his formation. His team’s lack of organization has hurt him as much as his tendency not to always choose the easiest option.