For some, this France-Italy is the ideal poster for building up confidence and getting back on track after a sluggish start to the Tournament. For others, on the contrary, it is the risk of floundering their rugby again against the weakest team in the competition and, thus, of giving in a little more to doubts before two much more spicy meetings, the Leek XV in Cardiff, then England, at the end of this Six Nations, on Saturday March 16 in Lyon. What about Fabien Galthié? “For us, there is no difference. A Six Nations Tournament is a series of matches. It’s like a 400 meter race. We start sprinting and accelerate through each turn. And, opposite, it’s the same,” summarizes the coach.
SO ? It is better, for their peace of mind, that the Blues play against Italy this Sunday (4 p.m. kick-off) in a meeting relocated to Lille – Olympic work at the Stade de France obliges – and under cover, the roof of the Pierre-Mauroy stadium being closed to protect against the forecast showers. A detail that is not anecdotal. Sheltered from the rain and wind, the conditions will be conducive to playing. For a performance hoped for closer to the 60 to 7 (a record gap in 48 confrontations) of the last World Cup than to the broth of the 2023 Tournament in Rome (24-29).
With the enthusiasm of youth, Louis Bielle-Biarrey, forced to forfeit on Saturday suffering from a stiff neck, revealed a secret. The Blues are working to reproduce their master class from last fall. “It’s a great memory,” said the UBB winger, savior of his team in Scotland two weeks ago. We took the match from the right end and it went very well. We rely a lot on this performance to reproduce a similar one…” An ambitious desire that François Cros obviously shares, but taking care to be less categorical. “I know that Italy looks like the ideal opponent for many people. But we are wary. They had a good start to the Tournament against England (defeat down to the wire 24-27, Editor’s note) and held out for almost an hour against Ireland before cracking (36-0). Plus, they love playing against us,” recalls the Toulouse player, moved to the center of the third French line in the absence of captain Grégory Alldritt, who has forfeited this Latin derby.
A warning relayed by his coach. “We know their qualities. The Italians are going to give us a big fight. And it is no coincidence that Gonzalo (Quesada, the new coach of the Squadra Azzurra) fields many players playing in France. They will be determined to bring out their best rugby…” It is certain that Ange Capuozzo, Paolo Garbisi and other Martin Page-Relo are eager to play a nasty trick on their partners from Toulouse, Toulon or Lyon. By taking advantage, for example, of the current weaknesses of the French XV, between anemic defense, drifting touches and absent subscribers when receiving high balls. That’s a lot of areas to urgently repair in order, as the Blues have been saying since the start of the week, to restore confidence. “The players were affected by the big defeat against Ireland,” confides the new coach of the French attack, Patrick Arlettaz. As soon as a little doubt creeps in, all the cogs take a hit. There are small delays all the time and, at this high level, it is detrimental, it prevents everything. We need the confidence to do things again with spontaneity and speed. »
Would winning without style against Italy be enough to fill the tank, pierced since the elimination by South Africa in the quarter-final of the World Cup? Not sure. “Of course we want, we want to do more,” replies Fabien Galthié. We are as ambitious as ever. But we are in a period of resilience and it is being built step by step. By structuring itself around simple principles, the bases of this game: solidarity, commitment, courage. And the hearts of men. But, frankly, I think there is no one more demanding of ourselves than we are. We are uncompromising about our feedback, but criticism remains between us. And we don’t want to play better to please the journalists. We want to play better because we are the French team and we want to wear our colors high. » For this, there is no other outcome than a clear and convincing victory against Italy. Ideal opponent or not.
(A REFERENCE)
The starting XV against Italy: 15. Ramos – 14. Penaud, 13. Fickou, 12. Danty, 11. Lebel – 10. Jalibert, 9. Lucu – 8. Cros, 7. Ollivon (cap), 6 . Pa. Boudehent – 5. Tuilagi, 4. Woki – 3. Atonio, 2. Mauvaka, 1. Baille. Substitutes: 16. Marchand, 17. S. Taofifenua, 18. Aldegheri, 19. R. Taofifenua, 20. Roumat , 21. Abadie, 22. Le Garrec, 23. Moefana.
