TOPS
Everything always goes very fast with the UBB winger. Number 14 and his red helmet made a name for themselves this Saturday at Murrayfield. And how! For a first selection, in a legendary stadium and only 20 years old, Louis Bielle-Biarrey did not do half measures despite the defeat of the Blues (25-21). We heard about his crazy speed and the great promises displayed since the start of the preparation, he demonstrated it at the expense of the Scots. A first time by making his speed speak on the test of Couilloud (12th) in support of Gailleton, before serving Jalibert but especially on his test (25th) where, served by this same Jalibert, he managed to find an interval with an acceleration and an effective racket to put Hamish Watson in the wind and go to flatten his first try in Blue. The only downside, a high tackle on Ben White which however shows his involvement and his presence in defense.
With the announcement of the retirement of Stuart Hogg, the former fullback and captain of the XV du Thistle, the Scots have lost an exceptional player, it’s a fact. But it also allowed Blair Kinghorn to find a place in the Scottish XV, he who served mainly as a stand-in for Finn Russell. This Saturday, he showed that he had everything to start in this team. Elected man of the match, he was right in his choices, clean under high balls, incisive on each ball carried and even scored a try… refused after video arbitration. With this performance, he certainly reassured his coach on the position of number 15 in this XV of thistle.
Unaccustomed to evolving together, Baptiste Couilloud and Mathieu Jalibert showed themselves at the level. With a style of play close to Antoine Dupont, as evidenced by his try in support (12th), the scrum half of LOU to animate as usual by trying to put a lot of rhythm without having too much waste. For his part, the UBB opener, without being transcendent, was decisive by being present on the first two French tries and effective against the poles (3/3). Like all their teammates, however, they showed less in the second half and failed to regain control of the match against the Scottish surges.
FLOPS
The Scottish scrum is reputed to be very solid and showed it again this Saturday. Gregor Townsend’s players relied on this sector to recover several penalties and put the XV of France in difficulty. Jean-Baptiste Gros and Jonathan Bamba suffered against their direct opponents and the substitutes were unable to do better. An area to work for the staff of Fabien Galthié despite the fact that it was not the holders.
Yes it’s a preparation game, yes the defeat has no consequence, but losing a game after leading by 18 points at halftime while playing 15 against 14 for almost 30 minutes is not not acceptable. As Brice Dulin confirmed after the match, this defeat is really frustrating. The physical preparation had to weigh on the organizations and it is therefore logical that as the meeting progressed, the Blues found themselves in physical difficulty in the duels but losing after having had such a lead is never good. for trust.