In Wales, the XV of France did more than return to victory on Sunday (45-24). He found the joy of playing again.
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After the mismanagement, the orgy. The French XV scored as many tries (five) against Wales on Sunday March 10 as in its entire Tournament so far. The grumpy people will say that it was against the weakest team of this edition, and they might be right. It prevents. The Blues have come too far, and with such lackluster performances, that it would be inconsiderate to deny our pleasure.
Especially since, through the magic of a completely crazy 4th day, Fabien Galthié’s men are mathematically still in the running to win the Tournament. If this is a pipe dream given the current ranking, a success in the Crunch, Saturday March 16, would make it possible to confirm for good this newfound joy against the Leek XV.
What we liked
Uncut sequence shots
In the wake of Saturday’s two Hitchcockian matches, the Welsh and French got into tune. Everything was not perfect, far from it, but, since error calls for play, they declined this truth to the point of satiation. The Blues, with their fairly overwhelming superiority up front, and especially in closed scrums, took the opportunity to find a few game launches that we thought remained blocked in the pre-World Cup quarter-final era, when the Welsh , always so unpredictable, responded with bravado. Result, a crossover with a score worthy of a French highway on July 31 and endless sequences of play, barely interrupted by very rare errors of indiscipline. As such, Fabien Galthié’s men, the most penalized since the start of the Tournament, deserve a medal (only three penalties conceded).
A pivotal moment
The pivotal association of Nolann Le Garrec and Thomas Ramos had raised some eyebrows. The latter often transformed into expressions of admiration in front of the duo’s demonstration. Despite the pressure and inexperience, the two men demonstrated astonishing complementarity. And above all, they dared. They set the pace, they accelerated the game. With waste, certainly, but at least they didn’t play the role of weak-armed managers. In addition to his usual security against the poles, Thomas Ramos distributed perfectly, notably allowing himself some wonders of doubled passes (on Gaël Fickou’s try) or even skipped passes.
But since we’re talking about passes, what can we say about this chistera from Nolann Le Garrec? As beautiful as it is effective and destined for the pantheon of social networks. Beyond this tidbit, the new scrum half will also have shone with his quick releases and his flair, as in his attempt worthy of a certain Antoine D.
Day 4: Le Garrec plays against the Welsh defense and scores his first international try
What action from Nolann Le Garrec! After a scrum once again well negotiated by the French pack, the French scrum half organized his team’s play. A few meters from the line, he fakes the pass and rushes into the Welsh goal to score the first try of his career with the French team and restore the advantage to his team.
Supporters, real ones
No need to quibble about the Welsh songs, omnipresent and always so quick to give goosebumps. But we can also, here, underline the fervor of the French fans present in Cardiff. Outnumbered, they nevertheless managed to make the cockerel heard as rarely outside in recent times. Despite the dark times that the French XV has been going through since the end of the World Cup, the supporters have not turned their backs on their team and each incursion of Charles Ollivon’s partners into the Welsh defense has been carried by vibrant voices . This is called passion. Unconditional.
What we didn’t like
Air currents in defense
It is customary to depict Wales with large wild plains, beaten by the winds. The air of the country seemed to inspire the Blues’ defense, especially in the first half, when, on the first two Welsh tries, it left immense areas behind it. Rio Dyer (6th) and Tomos Williams (25th) rushed in without any opposition. Wanting to wrap up the game is good, putting up some barbed wire, especially at the end of the regroupings, that can also be useful.
Perfect realism
This is, in the end, what the Blues will have missed the most on Sunday. You cannot dominate a conquering opponent so much without being able to get him on the scoreboard. We cannot outclass him in advancement (526 meters against 361), in possession (56%) or in occupation (66%) and have to tremble like this. But the hands, in crucial moments, are still sweaty, and there is still a last poorly assured pass or a poorly controlled ball, to prevent dancing in circles. If the Blues manage to blow away these slag like at the end of the match, the sleeping volcano will perhaps finally wake up once and for all.