He wants to become caliph instead of the caliph. On November 12, the XV of France, which dreams of being crowned world champion for the first time in its history in 2023, will face the outgoing defending champion, South Africa, on Saturday November 12. Before that, the duel won by a very small point against Australia on Saturday allowed the Blues to gauge themselves and measure the extent of the work that remains to be done in order to hope to shake up the Boks, who are more revengeful after their defeat in Ireland (19-16) this Saturday.
Take care of the start of the match
If they want to get a 12th victory in a row, Antoine Dupont’s teammates have every interest in negotiating their start to the match much better. Like this first action, where we saw the Toulouse scrum-half being chased away (rapid rise of the defense), then tackled on his first attempt to clear on foot, the Blues seemed surprised by their opponents from the day. “In the strategy, we were taken aback. We lacked precision”, recognized Antoine Dupont after the meeting. The Blues notably offered two penalties (4th, 13th) enhanced by the Australian striker, Bernard Foley.
Raise your voice physically
Facing Australia, the Blues offered a face that had nothing to do with that of conqueror that we knew them in recent months (so ask the All Blacks what they think), especially in the fight physical. They who had got into the habit of crushing their opponents, then punishing them by swallowing the spaces left in the second period, often suffered the impacts. Rare were the offensive tackles like the one sent by Thibaud Flament to slow down the first offensive of the Wallabies.
If the Ollivon-Alldritt doublet stood out, weighing particularly in attack (35 and 51 meters gained) as in defense (12 and 11 tackles), it will not be enough to hope to shake up South Africans, who have made frontal duel their trademark. Real bulldozers in the rucks and in the scrum, this is how they went to seek the world title in Japan in 2019. On Saturday evening, the Blues lost half of the scrums they played (3/6), Cyril Baille, who has just returned to competition, was notably penalized from the start. We will have to remain vigilant.
A foot game of occupation and pressure to be specified
Inevitably, behind a jostled pack, the Dupont-Ntamack hinge weighed much less than usual. We have rarely seen the first wait so much behind a ruck, hesitating to make a decision, and risk trying a few telephone passes. Besides hand management, foot distribution has not been as efficient as it has been in recent times. If Thomas Ramos played his role as scorer almost perfectly (6/7), in the absence of Melvyn Jaminet (player with the deepest footwork in the team), the trio struggled to find so many length than precision. It was moreover following a small kick over Antoine Dupont, and a capricious rebound that lobbed Gaël Fickou, that the ball ended up in Australian hands and offered them a magnificent trial of 80 meters.
The contribution of the bench and the return of Ollivon
“The newcomers have done a lot of good. In two weeks, we couldn’t compensate for so many months without playing together, but the players who replace those who are injured, absent, give themselves. And above all, regardless of the players, the XV of France continues to win”supported the coach at the end of the match.
Let’s quickly go over the XXL match of Charles Ollivon, designated man of the match, established in the absence of injured François Cros, let’s talk about Matthieu Jalibert among others. Entered at the opening in place of Romain Ntamack, it was he who offered Penaud, on a superb skipped pass, the try to win. In front, Mauvaka, Falatea, Priso brought as much pep as power. The ability of this XV of France to maintain a high level of play despite the changes of players in the starting XV or during the match should prove decisive against the Boks.