France / New Zealand, recurring poster of the year 2023. Before the XV of France launches “its” World Cup on September 8 at the Stade de France against the Blacks, the France team under 20 also rubs shoulders with the Kiwis, these famous Baby Blacks, on the occasion of his second match of the U20 World Cup, this Thursday (1:30 p.m. on The L’Équipe channel). A clash at the top between the French, double title holders (2018, 2019) before the cancellation of the last three editions due to the health crisis, and the New Zealanders, crowned six times in the competition.
For their entry into the running in South Africa, the Blueberries hit hard by sweeping the Japanese (75-12) in Stellenbosch, scoring a total of 11 tries, when the “Neo-Z” came close to corrections against the modest Welsh (27 -26), dead last in the 2023 Tournament with five losses. But the Habs remain suspicious. “The New Zealanders had only three preparation matches, they had benchmarks to find, recalls Lenni Nouchi, the third line of Montpellier and captain of the Bleuets. I hope they won’t find them against us… (smiles) We weren’t surprised by their match against the Welsh. We know that this is a team that can bounce back after average performances. We are expecting a very big game.”
The France team honored its status as the outgoing double world champion on Saturday. She now has a place to hold. “We arrived by being the former world champions, double title holders. But we haven’t talked about that too much. We highlighted the value of humility. Afterwards, we do not have an inferiority complex, plants the manager of Bleuets, Sébastien Calvet. The real test is coming. We know that they are in their third match, when we are in our eighth. In terms of collective experience, they lag behind us. But they will wake up sooner or later, they will increase in power.
For this big test, the French recover their powerful second-line Posolo Tuilagi (1.92 m for 145 kg), who solved his visa problem and will start this Thursday. The son of the iconic Henry Tuilagi “was of course very disappointed not to leave with the group but now he is here, everything is fine. He didn’t gain weight while he wasn’t with us, he didn’t lose weight either… He’s hungry and he’s very excited to experience this match”, smiles Sébastien Calvet. The tricolor manager has a plan: “We have to press the New Zealanders. To do it, you have to start with the basics and be powerful in the axis.
Another unknown: the young tricolor shooters will challenge players from the “Land of the Long White Cloud” for the first time. And therefore face their traditional haka. A controversy arose after the first game, since this famous warrior dance had lasted 2 minutes! Something to destabilize the opposing team. But this eventuality was taken into account by the staff of the under 20s. “We mentioned it very early on, to find out how we were going to manage it. So that it does not disturb our preparation, confirms the manager of the U20s. It’s simple, none of the players will have experienced a haka. We have worked a lot on managing emotions, so that everyone will seek resources for motivation, concentration and attention during the haka, rather than sources of disturbance.
The technician adds that “the haka allows New Zealand players to connect. The instruction was to know how we reconnect after the haka. We talked about it the day after the match against Japan so as not to disturb the players. French captain Lenni Nouchi continues: “There are no fears, we are sure of our strength. We will remain humble, we will not underestimate our opponents, but we are sure of what we are worth.
The Blueberries do not intend to stop there. This clash at the top will give them the opportunity to strike a blow. “With this group, we manage to stay focused on our objectives. We knew that Japan was the first stage of our adventure. We are even more concentrated, there is an emulation between the players, even with those who cannot play this match but who stay with us. They invest as much as the players who play, ”says the U20 captain. A success this Thursday, before the third match against Wales, would open the doors to the semi-finals. But one thing at a time.
Ferté – Drouet, Depoortère, Costes, Attissogbe – (o) Reus, (m) Jauneau – Jegou, Gazzotti, Nouchi – Tuilagi, Auradou – Affane, Jouvin, Penverne. Substitutes: Lacombre, Duchene, Julien, Liufau, Castro-Ferreira, Timo, Carbonneau, Mathiron.
