Cock-a-doodle Doo ! Rarely has a XV of France been so sparkling. Rugby specialists will therefore not find it surprising that the Blues officially become, on Monday July 11, the best team in the world. For the occasion, Franceinfo: sport highlights five figures that allow us to better understand the perfect score of the Habs this season.
Number 1 in the world ranking
France, thanks to its victory on Saturday at the Olympic stadium in Tokyo and that of the Welsh in South Africa on the same day, became the first nation in the world on Monday according to the ranking established by World Rugby, the international reference body. This is a first since the introduction of the ranking in 2003.
For the first time in its history, the XV of France reached 1st place in the world ranking.
Thanks to the players @FGalthie, @ibanez_raphael and his staff
Thanks to the professional clubs, @LNRofficial and amateur rugby
This is the tremendous success of all French rugby pic.twitter.com/c0YSolpzO3
— Bernard Laporte (@BernardLaporte_) July 9, 2022
The XV of France is ahead of Ireland, which signed a feat on Saturday by winning for the first time in New Zealand (23-12), in Dunedin, and South Africa, previous world number 1, beaten by Wales on the wire (13-12). If the Springboks, world champions, had won, they would have remained at the top of the world rankings. Their defeat (combined with the Blues’ second victory in Japan and an All Blacks loss of less than 15 points against Ireland) allowed the French to take control.
10th Grand Slam
It is a performance that had eluded France for twelve years. This season, by winning the Six Nations Tournament without losing a single one of their five matches, the French roosters achieved the famous Grand Slam. The apotheosis took place on March 19 at the Stade de France against England (25-13).
Fabien Galthié’s men brought France the tenth Grand Slam in its history. England have 13 and Wales 12.
10 consecutive wins
Antoine Dupont and his family have gone through this season without experiencing the slightest defeat. Ten victories in a row is unheard of in the modern history of the XV of France. It’s about best tricolor record since the record series of ten successes, including eight against Germany, established between 1931 and 1937.
A 10th victory in a row for the XV of France, which equals a historic series of 1937.
Congratulations to the staff and all the players for this new victory against a brave Japanese team pic.twitter.com/WIy1N6cp8T— Bernard Laporte (@BernardLaporte_) July 9, 2022
France has not lost since a setback in Australia (33-30) on July 17, 2021. Argentina (29-20), Georgia (41-15), the All Blacks (40-25), the Italy (37-10), Ireland (30-24), Scotland (36-17), Wales (13-9), England (25-13) and Japan twice (42-23 then 20-15) alternately came up against the Blues. In addition, the latter had not produced a full box during a summer tour since 2006 with a trip to Romania (62-14), then to South Africa (36-26).
36 scored tries
The tricolor offensive armada knew how to make people talk about it. In the last ten meetings, the XV of France, often carried by a huge Antoine Dupont (elected best player on the planet in 2021), scored 36 tries, and only conceded 17. If we add the points collected between the poles , in particular by the excellent Melvyn Jaminet, France scored a total of 313 points, an average of more than 30 points per match.
The Blues demonstrated this talent in particular during their triumph against New Zealand in November 2021. Solid in their defensive organization, and inspired offensively, they found the promised land four times against the All Blacks (two tries from Mauvaka, one from Ntamack, and one from Penaud).
42 players used
Another aspect that explains the success of the XV of France lies in the management of the workforce by the technical staff. In total, 42 players have played a selection match in the last ten meetings. On the one hand, the Blues relied on a backbone of 11 unchanging players to clinch a tenth Grand Slam. Woki, Jelonch, Fickou, Alldritt, Dupont and Ntamack are notably part of this golden generation of French rugby.
On the other hand, the coaches were able to rotate when necessary. The last summer tour in Japan is a good example. For the two games in the Land of the Rising Sun, 17 neophytes joined the tricolor squad. Even if they did not all walk the Japanese lawns under the blue tunic, they were able to try to get noticed with Fabien Galthié. The coach also talked about matches “laboratories“. The experiments proved to be successful, since despite difficulties, the French managed to win their two confrontations. Just over a year from the 2023 World Cup at home, all the lights are green for Fabien Galthié and his staff. .