The Blues will soon return to the front after the disillusionment of the last World Cup, which ended abruptly in the quarter-finals with a cruel defeat against the Springboks. The next Six Nations Tournament will arrive, on Friday February 2, with an explosive France-Ireland at the Vélodrome stadium in Marseille. This Tuesday, the National League and the French Rugby Federation formalized the agreement reducing from 42 to 34 the number of players called up by the XV of France during the gatherings of the Six Nations Tournament starting this year. New working conditions for the French XV, but Fabien Galthié sees even further, with a view to the next World Cup in Australia in 2027.
Questioned by our colleagues from L’Équipe this Wednesday, the French coach put forward the idea that certain internationals could be completely left to rest for an entire season in order to regenerate physically and mentally. “It may be that we take players out of international level for a season to let them regenerate, that we offer them breaks based on their performances,” he explains. We are not inventing anything, the All Blacks did it between 2011 and 2015. For a single objective: to put them back at full strength on the international circuit the following year, always with this horizon of 2027.
Fabien Galthié is well aware of the infernal pace that is imposed on internationals. “I often tell players that they don’t need to cross the pitch every weekend in the Championship. It’s impossible. And yet, we ask them to do it. They have nothing to prove to me at this level, he continues. Above all, I want them to be in a good psychological and physical state to play their best rugby from time to time. We want them to be in good shape with us.”
However, he is not revealing any names for the moment, but cites Grégory Alldritt, number 8 of the Blues, who took a two-month break after the World Cup, before resuming competition at the end of December. A salutary break for the third row of the Maritimes, as he explained at the microphone of Canal after La Rochelle’s victory against Toulouse (29-8): “I feel really good today. At the end of the World Cup, I said I felt like I was 35 years old. This Saturday, I feel like I was 26 again. (…) It will take me a few more matches to feel 100% on the pitch again.”
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An example for Fabien Galthié: “When a player says “I’m stepping back for three months” knowing that he’s the club’s number 1, it’s a strong decision. At our level, we could do it over a season, by putting a developing or potential player in place. It will always be a benefit for the French team and for the players. It’s for their own good, they have to understand that.” And to specify: “All this will be done in co-construction with them, in full trust and in full awareness. When you are a player, you don’t want to let go of this selection.”
This year, the French XV will be deprived for the Six Nations Tournament of Antoine Dupont, who has decided to participate in the Paris Olympic Games with the French 7s team. Asked on RMC about the extension of his team lease from France, Uini Atonio (33) spoke of the world champion Springboks who have several players over 35 in their ranks. “South African players aged 37… Yes but they play 15 or 16 matches a year. We, in the Top 14, are very busy. I think I still play more than 25 matches per year,” recalled the Stade Rochelais pillar. An observation shared by Fabien Galthié.
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