He made his comeback on Tuesday, January 4 in Tournon-sur-Rhône (Ardèche) during the now traditional training sessions with amateur clubs. Almost a month before the start of the Six Nations Tournament, the coach of the XV of France, Fabien Galthié, declared at a press conference that the Tricolores “were in a position to want to win a title “. “We are ambitious for the tournament. We want and we want to win. We will give ourselves the means”, he explained.
What do you expect from this year 2022?
Fabien Galthié: The last game against the All Blacks was our twentieth game after starting against England by opening the tournament in February 2020. We want to continue on this dynamic and the work undertaken. The first team against the English was 24 years old on average. We voluntarily chose a team that we could bring to maturity with a vision of four years or more. On average, it only had twelve selections and the challenge was to be competitive very quickly with a team with little collective and individual experience at the international level. We recorded 70% of victories for six defeats including five in the last moments. The team against the All Blacks had aged a year, accumulating 18 caps on average. We want to continue to progress. We have made progress at all levels and we still have room for maneuver. We are ambitious for the tournament. And also for the matches that take us to Japan and the November tour where we will play South Africa, Australia and a second-third opponent. We hear this injunction “you have to win the tournament”. Two years ago, when I took the job, I was told “good luck”. There is a change in expectations and it is very positive. We want and can win the competitions in which we are going to enter. The choice is to arrive in 2023 with a team with a common background and continuity.
Compared to the group announced for the Tournament, should we expect a renewal of the November group or are there still other players to see?
Every Monday, we meet to redo a team composition. In December, two weeks after the game against the All Blacks, we remade a group of 75 players, five to six per position. It appears new players. Not UFOs who have gone through sectors other than training centers but rather Federal or National clubs before being aspired to the high level. We will publish a list of 42 players the week before the rally in Carpiagne, a Foreign Legion camp with training in Aubagne (Bouches-du-Rhône).
What is the prospect of victory over the All Blacks?
Before the match, we had said to ourselves that this would not call into question because we had done what we could do best because we were coherent and fair but that if we won, we should not take the “boulard”. This result and the content are the fruit of work undertaken for two years and twenty matches. It is clear that we need to win. It is clear that the France team must win. We want to progress, we can progress in all sectors. We are fifth in the world rankings after touching third place. We can continue to climb. In front of us we have Ireland, England, the All Blacks, and South Africa ahead of us by five points. What is important is that you have to be on the podium often to be competitive in a World Cup. This match against the All Blacks enters the big victories. But it gave us hope. At the moment, we are in a position to want to win a title and we want, we want to win. It is not an end. We will give ourselves the means. Then you have to play the matches.