Forced to abandon the final victory to the Irish, the Blues have nevertheless defended their skin dearly. A look back at a 2023 edition rich in lessons and hopes.
The XV of France failed to retain its title, now Irish property. Stated in this way, this observation would tend to classify this 2023 edition as a failure. It is however nothing. Badly started, the competition will have allowed the men of Galthié to prove their resilience and to move forward, inflated with confidence, towards their great world challenge next September. The Blues lost their title but they won certainties. Filtered through a sieve of five matches, these reveal some waste but above all many nuggets.
The satisfactions
From wet firecracker to pyrotechnic show
There was an urgent need to react. In an emergency, under pressure, we collapse or we are reborn. Dupont’s partners chose the second option. After the Irish slap that burned their cheeks in the second match, they remobilized to finish a Tournament with a bang that could have paralyzed them. Instead, the final triptych, against Scotland, England and Wales, looks like the propellant that should allow the blue rocket to reach the stars in a few months. Already more conquering against Scotland, France touched perfection against the English hereditary enemy before concluding in style, without however reaching the rugby fullness of Twickenham, against the Welsh. 94 points scored in these last two games, 21 tries scored throughout the Tournament, the lights have turned green (alas, the Grand Slam too).
Murder in an English Garden
It is not a question here of making primary anti-English. But it is difficult to sulk this pleasure, almost childish, to have attended the most beautiful beating inflicted by the XV of France on its best enemies. The foundations of the temple of rugby are still shaking. The 82,000 spectators of Twickenham attended a horrifying or jubilant spectacle, depending on the side of the Channel where one was born. For 80 minutes or so, the Blues crushed the Englishman, dominating broadly as flush, against an Albion that had suddenly become more putrid than treacherous.
Pride and Prejudice
“Never underestimate the heart of a champion”. The famous quote comes from across the Atlantic and from the NBA, but it easily applies to a man like Grégory Alldritt. Criticized for his performances at the start of the Tournament, the third line bowed and bided his time. He knew she would come. That his pride would prevail over prejudice. “I had fun reading the reviews of former players who gauged my state of form”he savored, Friday, in the team. “I had no doubts. Above all, I was motivated to surpass myself, to prove to myself, the team and the staff that I was better than that”. Exhausted by the accumulation of matches at the start of the competition, the Rochelais, like Dupont or Ollivon, found a second wind. The third will now have to coincide with the next World Cup.
Regrets
The risks of gentrification
Antoine Dupont recognized it at a press conference on Friday: the Blues, at the start of the Tournament, had let themselves be lulled by the fire, fueled by victories, of bourgeois comfort. A warm but so pernicious fire. “We had fallen into a certain routine. We had taken a lot of habits in our life as a group and, sometimes, we did things to do them, without real conviction”, recognized the French captain. The first victory, narrow, in Italy had revealed flaws in the investment of some, the rout against Ireland, a week later, confirmed it. Luckily for them, the Blues were able to trade in time the discreet charms of the bourgeoisie for much more adequate hard work and freshness. “We tried to find joy in life and emulation in the weeks that followed”, confirmed Dupont. It was time.
Haouas disgrace
A gesture not to be shown in rugby schools. A gesture that Mohamed Haouas will certainly ruminate on for a long time, and which risks depriving him of the World Cup. This gesture is this helmet shot out of nowhere from the French pillar in full temple of the Scotsman Ben White. They say, however, that a forewarned man is worth two. But Haouas, already excluded for an irrational punch against these same Scots three years ago, plunged again. The clemency of Judge Galthié risks being greatly altered.
Jelonch, broken wing
Admittedly, François Cros will have perfectly replaced Anthony Jelonch, victim of a rupture of the cruciate ligament of the knee against Scotland. Very solid against the English, Cros was even monstrous against the Welsh, whom he tackled 18 times (best total of the match). Of course, the third wing line of the Blues quickly pushed back after this hard blow but we can’t help but have a thought for the unfortunate Jelonch, whose unavailability should last about six months. No need to have a doctorate in biology to understand that, for the Stade Toulousain player, the dream of participating in the World Cup now seems like a sweet pipe dream. Or an incredible time trial feat.