The women’s XV of France begins the Six Nations Tournament against Italy, in Parma, on Sunday, with a reshuffled team compared to the last World Cup.
It is a new cycle which opens for the XV of France women, Sunday March 26, for its entry in the Tournament of the six nations, in Italy (live on France 2 and france.tv at 4 p.m.). Coach Thomas Darracq left, Gaëlle Mignot and David Ortiz were inducted coaches, to lead a team that has lost several executives to retirement. The pair’s mission is to open a more peaceful chapter when tensions between the players and the staff erupted during the last World Cup.
The misunderstandings of the World Cup? To oblivion. To get back on a good footing, the two new thinking heads, who were part of Thomas Darracq’s staff, organized a seminar in early January to present a new working environment to the players of the XV of France. Objective: to move forward. “We are looking to the future. We are building our new project. We have clear ideas, we know where we want to go. We had several periods of work and we started to lay the first foundations. Overall, all the members of this team, players or staff, live well and work well.”assures David Ortiz.
Turnover between retirees and novices
To start a new cycle, the pair trusts the youth. A renewal also constrained by the provision of Caroline Drouin and Joanna Grisez in favor of the France team at 7, and the retirement of executives, such as Laure Sansus, Marjorie Mayans, Safi N’Diaye and Céline Ferer, soon joined by Jessy Trémoulière, at the end of the Tournament. A dozen new players have thus appeared in the group, like Carla Arbez (23 years old), Maëlle Picut (23 years old), Elisa Riffonneau (19 years old) or Léa Champon (20 years old). “Today, the younger generations are working very well, we have an academic center and a team of 7 who are doing a remarkable job.underlined Gaëlle Mignot. The will is to put the girls, as soon as they are ready, in the France team. It’s a new start, inevitably there is the desire to integrate new people, to put everyone back in a form of competition. The collective experience will be created over time.”
Despite these new appearances, only a novice, Carla Arbez, will start against Italy at the opening. “We called her to the Capbreton camp and that confirmed everything we had seen of her in the league matches with her club Bordeaux. And the idea today is throw in this tournament because she shows that she can hold this rank”, justified Gaëlle Mignot, adding that the experienced Jessy Trémoulière could enter during the match to bring all her experience. Maëlle Picut, substitute, could also know a first selection.
Hermet hands over the captaincy
These two young players, like the rest of their teammates, will be led by Audrey Forlani (57 selections), new captain of the XV of France women, to the detriment of Gaëlle Hermet, substitute against the Squadra Azzurra, and who would have “well accepted” this decision according to the staff. “Audrey ticked a lot of boxes in terms of values, state of mind and experience. not really that role, and it happened quite naturally”assures David Ortiz.
Second in the tournament in 2022, what objectives can this renewed XV of France now aim for to start a new cycle? “We are competitors, but we are aware that we have to validate several stages as we go along. The first is to put in place the bases that we want in terms of content, and that goes through defense , conquest and taking the initiative, answers the manager. We’re going there to put in the biggest performance possible, but we mustn’t put the cart before the horse either and go too fast.”.
The French team has not won the Six Nations Tournament since 2018, and has finished second in the last three editions.