In Aix-en-Provence
You will probably be associated with Maxime Lucu to form the hinge against Italy. How do you approach it?Matthieu Jalibert: If I have to play with Max (Lucu), it will be a little easier. We play together all year round. We know each other well, we have benchmarks.
What are Lucu’s qualities? He is a true leader. He manages the link between the forwards and three-quarters well. He can relieve us with the kicking game. And he’s also an excellent defender. Max is very complete. He is capable of making his team play very well thanks in particular to his kicking game.
How do you find him since Antoine Dupont’s injury? I find Maxime calm. After Antoine’s injury, he didn’t ask himself many questions. He has his feet on the ground. He hasn’t changed anything. He’s a hard worker and he continues to work. He is in the group, he knows the system. It’s easy to blend into the collective when you’ve lived together for three or four years. Max is ready to take on the number 9 role against Italy.
A word about another UBB teammate, Louis Bielle-Biarrey, who is revealed during this World Cup. Does his hatching surprise you? Louis, he’s a little genius! I’ve been playing with him in clubs for two years. What impresses me the most is how easily he adapts to the level he faces. It doesn’t matter if the level increases, it is always there. For his age (20), it’s fantastic. He already has a lot of maturity to be present at big events. His speed and reading skills allow him to make the difference.
Concerning yourself, how did you experience becoming the No. 1 fly-half for the Blues after Romain Ntamack’s withdrawal? Quite simply. Because I’ve also been working with the same group for four years. I have also already started quite a few matches. So, my move from No. 2 to No. 1 after Romain’s injury happened naturally, with the confidence of my teammates. And having a series of tenures also gives me more weight in the team, encourages me to speak up more.
Should the French team fear Italy? Of course! If we look at our last results against her, they were always close, close matches. The score of their last meeting against New Zealand (96-17) does not reflect their level. We know his strengths and weaknesses, we shouldn’t boil it all down to this match against the All Blacks. We have a lot of respect for this team which plays a lot, which holds the ball a lot and which caused us a lot of problems during the last Tournament. We work hard in training to avoid falling into this trap.
How is the team approaching this first playoff meeting? We are more under tension, but this group likes this type of event. We’ve been working together on this for four years. We are going to get into the most exciting matches. We take them as additional motivation to transcend ourselves.
Comments collected at a press conference