at home, the Blues want an audience in tune

“Push, push! » Under the all-Irish drizzle suffered by Ile-de-France on Sunday February 6, the some 60,000 spectators at the Stade de France gave voice. Struggling in the first period, facing an overexcited Italy for the opening of the Six Nations Tournament, the XV of France was pushed by its public, especially during the scrums.

Opposed to Ireland, Saturday February 12 (5:45 p.m.), in a match which promises to be “the top of the tournament”, according to Fabien Galthié, the Blues hope to find an audience in tune. After fearing having to play the 2022 edition of the tournament in almost empty stadiums – sanitary gauges due to Covid-19 oblige – the French team appreciated starting the competition in a stadium that did not sound hollow.

“The presence of the public is very important for us, we really felt the supporters from the hymns”, confirmed the captain, Antoine Dupont, after the meeting. And to explain that he and his partners had made their calculations during the government announcements, at the end of January, announcing the lifting of the gauges: “We quickly understood that people would be there for the tournament. »

New clothes of light

Criticized for a long time for its lack of atmosphere and its flying saucer side devoted to all sports, but to none in particular – unlike the jewel boxes of the oval that are the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff or the Twickenham in London –, the Stade de France is the winner of the pandemic. It doesn’t matter if it is a less appetizing bottle, as long as there is the intoxication of reconnecting with the public.

Since the XV of France has regained vigor – with the arrival of Fabien Galthié at the helm – the Dionysian enclosure seems reinvigorated. Redesigned and renovated for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, and the next Rugby World Cup in 2023, the Stade de France put on its new clothes of light in the fall of 2021, transformed into a cauldron during the victory of the XV of France against to the All Blacks. Even without displaying a full door against Italy, the atmosphere was once again there, several Marseillaises spontaneous tumbling from the stands during the meeting.

Opponent of the Blues on Saturday, and arriving in Paris with nine successes in a row and a unanimously acclaimed game, the XV of Clover knows that it is landing on hostile ground. Propelled captain of Ireland on Saturday in the absence of Johnny Sexton, injured in the last minute to the hamstring, the second row James Ryan remembers being deafened by the cheers in 2018, when his team came to win in extremis in Saint-Denis. “The last time we played there [à l’automne 2020], there were 80,000 empty seats. This weekend, there will be 80,000 people on it, and we have to take that into account, of course. The public really plays a special role,” exposed the Leinster player this week.

Public “involved in the match”

Among the leaders of a squad in form, but beaten in its last two games against the Blues, the powerful second line has set a goal for its partners: “We will do our best to calm their ardor, for lack of another word”, smiled James Ryan. Andy Farrell’s troops would have nothing against silencing the 80,000 spectators on Saturday. “The French public gets involved in the match, whether it’s a kick, a penalty or a try, they galvanize their players, who really like to play at home, in front of their public”, enthused the interim Irish captain.

Invited to react to these words on Thursday, Fabien Galthié assured that they would figure prominently in his speech preparing for the meeting. “These words, we hear them, and we will take them into account, says the tricolor coach, who will return to the bench after being deprived of the meeting against Italy due to contamination with Covid-19. This will be shared with the group and with our team. Knowing that our objective is not to reduce the Stade de France to silence, but to experience the most intense emotion possible with our supporters. »

Less than two years from a World Cup at home, the XV of France has the opportunity to mark its territory, against an opponent eager to make life difficult for it. In a stadium announced to be sold out several months before the competition (as France-England will be, at the end of the tournament, on March 19), the public will have their role to play. In view of “big fight, in conquest, mauls or melee” what second line Cameron Woki and the other Blues expect, there will be plenty to shout about ” Push ! »