Apart from an air gap at the start of the second period, the XV of France flew over this last match of the autumn tour, Saturday, November 20, at the Stade de France. And it is not “the country with the long white cloud” which disturbed its navigation. Unrecognizable, sometimes almost arbitrary, the All Blacks suffered the thunderbolt of Tricolors both unleashed and perfectly organized. Back to this almost perfect flight plan.
A pre-match at the height of the event
First there was this haka, respected by the audience and bursting with intensity, as always. And then followed, a magical moment, a Marseillaise resumed in chorus, and a cappella, by a whole stadium in full force. Against Argentina, they were 55,000 for the post-Covid reunion with the Stade de France, but there, for the All Blacks, it was indeed 80,000 throats deployed which brought the Blues to boil before the blow of mail.
A start with an ogre appetite
It was she who set the tone. Without this start to the match like a fairy tale, the outcome and the physiognomy might have been different. There, from the first few minutes, it was obvious that Galthié’s men had not come to thread the pearls. Regardless of the pedigree of the opponent, the Blues have plucked the Kiwis, chased in their own goal by the bulldozer Mauvaka. The second layer, passed by the artist Romain Ntamack, was not too much, knowing that black sheep were not going to be sheared so easily afterwards …
VIDEO. The first try of the match, signed Mauvaka
Mauvaka by land, Jaminet by air
If all the French players deserve a mention, Peato Mauvaka, the Stade Toulousain hooker will have, by his charges, dug the furrow of victory. At the other end of the team, at the back, Melvyn Jaminet still scored points. Not only in a scorer role that he seems to master more and more (an 8 out of 8 immaculate in his penalties and transformations), but also in that of a complete number 15, comfortable under the candles and first against -attacker.
The relaunch of Ntamack by the hour of play
She put the Blues in the right direction when they no longer put one foot in front of the other. She woke up the Stade de France. It led to Savea’s temporary expulsion and allowed Jaminet to add three points that did good as the black cloud loomed. But above all, beyond all these purely factual aspects, how beautiful she was! The daring it took for the Toulouse opener to start again from his in-goal and his vista to navigate between the Blacks and cross part of the field will remain as the image of the match. And all this with always the right bust and the feline stride. So as not to spoil anything.
An intensity forgotten in the locker room
We may well know that a crumb is enough for the Blacks to make it a feast, the French almost paid dearly for the relaxation they showed at the call of the second period. Their 18-point lead at the break collapsed within 20 minutes, and without Ntamack’s raise, the bleeding could have spread even further. Forgotten the defensive pressure on which the Blues had built their attack plan during the first 40 minutes, they rolled out the red carpet to their guests.
VIDEO. The Blacks score a 3rd try and come back very close to the score
If the indiscipline at the start of the match made people fear the worst (two penalties in three minutes), if the alignment suffered in the face of the experience of the Whitelock-Retallick duo, it is this drop in intensity that the we will remember as a black point against the All Blacks.
Pale blacks
We do not know if it is the fact of seeing them in white, but who will have recognized the terrible All Blacks on Saturday night at the Stade de France? The credit goes largely to our Blues, who crushed New Zealand as rarely, if ever, in the common history of these two countries. Apart from a reaction of pride at the start of the second period, the triple world champions were unworthy of their rank.
Certainly tired by a tour that brought them together for three long months, the partners of a strawberry Jordie Barrett have largely passed through. If the forwards have survived, the back lines, those which have made the legend of this country, have been outclassed by the blue class. The times are changing.