After the victory against Italy, the troops drew up a unanimous observation: “We can’t be satisfied with this content.” The sentence posed by the opening half of the XV of France, Caroline Drouin, perfectly summarized the state of mind of the staff of the Blue and the players interviewed after the meeting. Yes, the victory and its five pocketed points are precious, but the clumsiness that has chopped the French game must disappear as soon as possible if the Blues want to write a copy that lives up to their ambitions against Ireland, Saturday April 2.
For the moment, the autumn fever is still far away. And spring, which has just peeked out with the promises of champagne rugby that come with it, should take a break this weekend. Les Bleues will therefore have to readapt to winter temperatures and a more restrictive game for their second match of the Six Nations Tournament. “The rain we had in training helped to refocus the girlssays Thomas Darracq, the sports manager of the Blue, especially in particularly important sectors when the conditions are complicated, as will be the case in Toulouse.“
“We worked a lot on the alternation, the game on foot.”
Thomas Darracqat franceinfo: sport
A blessing in disguise, perhaps: increased vigilance surrounds the transmission of a ball that we know in advance is more difficult to maneuver in bad weather. A vigilance that sometimes weakens the sun and the blue sky. There is no point in running until the precious is warm between the hands.
Why dwell so much on the subject? Because if the Blues have largely imposed themselves in Italy, the French conquest has been messy. Lack of landmarks, the stress of reunion in an almost full stadium in the Alps (13,700 spectators), there was a bit of all that last Sunday.
Still, the 14 missed passes and 19 turnovers (balls lost and returned to the opponent) are a task in the score of a team as ambitious as that of the Blue. The multiple gifts, which the Italians caught in extremis by the socks or the shorts by the blue defense did not know how to take advantage of, will not always remain without consequence.
For this team which relishes in possession of the ball, quick exits, to send the game standing in the defense or the ball to the wing, the multiple faults of hand prevented it from imposing its rhythm. “They also read our touch perfectly”also conceded the third center line of the XV of France Emeline Gros. “We worked on our conquest, the objective will be to have more balls and to let go of the horses a little. Against Italy, we felt a little restraint, a desire to do too well”argued Thomas Darracq, Thursday.
To raise the bar against an Ireland in reconstruction, the Blues will present themselves with a densified package of forwards and the return of an experienced hinge. “With Sansus-Drouin, we come back a little more to common benchmarksanalyzes Marie Sempéré, former international and consultant for France Télévisions. Against Italy, there were problems in the scrum, in touch, but solutions were found in the second half, which may explain why there are changes to face Ireland.
“A certain individual pressure”, “a first game”, “a crowded stadium”. Whether mentioned by the captain of Les Bleues, Gaëlle Hermet, the third center line, Emeline Gros or the manager Annick Hayraud, the emotional aspect of this first meeting of the Tournament also had its importance in the tricolor performance. If he is not the only responsible for the clumsiness of the XV of France – the group met for the first time since November -, it is a sector in which the Blue can and want to progress. Because these Tricolores have been integrating a number of promising young players in recent months so that they can cut their teeth before the World Cup.
On Sunday, Grenoble’s Alexandra Chambon, for example, experienced her first tenure with the rooster’s flocked jersey in the scrum. “It was a special moment, I was looking forward to it. I was a little apprehensive about the atmosphere that was going to emerge from the stadium, it can be a bit exhilarating to evolve in front of 13,000 people, even if when you are launched, you think more”, she shared after the meeting on Sunday. Rare moments that Elite 1 players can only face at international level.
“The executives have already had the opportunity, but it’s true that it can be very impressive for young youngsters to find themselves in full stadiums, in front of their families. You mustn’t lose too much nerve impulses, even if it’s just positive things. In the end, it drains your energy.”
Marie Sempéré, former international and consultant for France Télévisionsat franceinfo: sport
Other young shoots will be particularly concerned by this aspect on Saturday afternoon: the Blagnac holders Coco Lindelauf (4 selections), Axelle Berthoumieu (7 selections), Mélissande Llorens (1 selection) or Célia Domain (1 selection) who will take place on the bench. In total, eleven players present on the match sheet evolve either in Blagnac, in the close Toulouse suburbs, or at the Toulouse stadium and will therefore play in front of their relatives.
To manage all that, they will nevertheless be able to feed on an enclosure that they know on the whole rather well. “These are players who are used to playing in this stadium, to competing there. The benchmarks, the locker rooms, the pitch, the stands, everything that is familiar, that helps”supports Marie Sempéré. “We are lucky to have people in the staff to support the girls mentally, emphasizes Thomas Darracq. The players debriefed on the subject, we mainly listened to them and behind it we try to identify the stressors. Above all, we tried to be positive. We come out with a big victory, we have to accept that everything is not perfect, a match is never perfect.”
The return from injury of the most capped of Les Bleues, Safi N’Diaye – in the group but absent from the sheet – should be a real asset for “reassure the troops for the rest of the competition” according to Marie Sempéré. “She can help the other leaders and Gaëlle who is above all a duty captain. When you watch the matches, Safi talks a lot to the players during the warm-up, on the pitch, she has this role of mother, it’s important in a group”, supports our consultant.
To go for this victory against Ireland with style and allow themselves to look further with more serenity, the Blues and their captain Gaëlle Hermet do not intend to rest on their laurels: “We are lucky to be able to play in very beautiful stadiums, to have a band of hard-working people, who only ask to work more individually, collectively. That’s no problem.”