There is a thrill in the air, and it’s not just the wind that swept Wales this weekend. Winners Saturday February 22 in Cardiff, at the end of a game conducted "Welsh" – with aggressiveness and heart – (27-23), the teammates of Captain Charles Ollivon occupy the head of the Six Nations Tournament , in favor of the Irish defeat, Sunday at Twickenham (12-24). They may, even if rare are those who allow themselves to talk about it, dream of a first grand slam in ten years.
A tremor therefore. We felt it during the first match of this XV of France version Fabien Galthié, and his promising victory against the vice-champions of the English world (24-17), followed by a mastered match against weak Italians (35- 22).
But, after years of scarcity, it’s hard to get carried away. Did Guy Novès not start his mandate with two victories in 2016, before seeing Wales bring his team back to reality? Cardiff match, stamped "Maturity test" by Ollivon, was to show what this young French team has in the trunk. Everyone saw: a performance which, if it had nothing perfect, comforted the Blues in their new certainties.
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Joining a project
"Inevitably, when we make matches like this collectively, with a pack that hurts the opponent, who advances … Behind, it is communicative, it is a treat to play", confesses Romain Ntamack, author of the decisive French essay, when the Welshmen had returned to a point.
Before the meeting, however, a little familiar music had risen from the seraglio. That of the coaches of the big Top 14 clubs starting to smile at the decorum imposed by the new French staff. Even sending spikes. Thus Christophe Urios, leader of the championship with Bordeaux-Bègles, was it astonished that the French game was praised when it was criticized a few years ago for having raised the Brennus in Castres with "A rotten game".
"The more or less benevolent analyzes, we hear them, notes Fabien Galthié. And often we agree. " Aware of being expected at the turn, he has the results for him. His method put the players in his pocket. Bernard Le Roux admits "Rarely have you felt so good", almost astonished, at the start of the tournament, to have a diet personalized by dieticians allowing each player to regenerate as best as possible according to their efforts, "Things that were not done before, in selection". Steammates praise "High intensity training".
Fabien Galthié and Raphaël Ibanez, the manager of the XV de France, won their first bet. By going to make, this fall, the club tour before the announcement of the 42 players selected, and keeping only the "Men fully adhering to the project", the thinking heads of the Blues have secured a group pulling in the same direction. And where everyone seems to want to go beyond their function, at the service of others.
Everything is weighed, measured, calculated
Anthony Bouthier thus tells the hooker Camille Chat who, barely recovered from a tear in the calf, "Come back faster than a three-quarter to scratch the ball" on the last Welsh offensive. Defense captain Gaël Fickou agreed without hesitation to shift to the wing to compensate for the absences of Damian Penaud and Vincent Rattez. "It shows the team player he is, and the great leader he becomes"said Shaun Edwards, the defense coach.
When the blue ship swayed, Fickou changed into the third line of fortune to replace Grégory Alldritt (at the end of the first period) and Mohamed Haouas (at the end of the second), especially in the fray, while they hatched their boxes yellow.
In short, "The group lives well". Cliché formula, it is however to which Romain Ntamack refers. "It's been a long time since I had enjoyed myself so much in a French team"summed up Teddy Thomas after the match against Italy.
Leaving the group before the Welsh trip – but likely to return due to the injury of Cyril Baille -, the pillar Jefferson Poirot, who knew the two previous staffs, insists on the "Quality of training", and the coach’s obsession with “All the details, with great precision. "
Everything is weighed, measured, calculated by Fabien Galthié. The man had an appointment with this coaching position, which he had been told to blow in 2016 by Guy Novès. He leaves nothing to chance. Even the semantics are important for this communicator, who for example replaced "Alternates" through "Finishers" in his vocabulary, insisting since taking office on the role of each player.
After having bitten these “finishers” in the first two games, dissatisfied with their performance, he took off his hat on Saturday, like the entrance to the pillar Demba Bamba, decisive on a dangerous scrum.
"Ten years of collective frustration erased in one game"
"The French love this new XV of France", gave the day before the match a poll by Odoxa, ensuring that more than 80% of those questioned (just over a thousand) have a good opinion of the group led by Fabien Galthié.
The Blues, especially those who have experienced black bread, enjoy it. "We saw each other at the end of the match, it was incredible, sums up Charles Ollivon. The whole upper part of the stadium was still full (during the French lap of honor). We give a lot and people give it back to us, so it makes us want even more. "
If they dodge the term rebirth, “Derogatory towards previous generations”, dixit Raphaël Ibanez, the Blues have in one match "Erased ten years of collective frustrations". "We have the feeling that history is forgiving because we decided to write it", asserts Fabien Galthié.
A formula that counterbalances that of Arthur Vincent, hot after the match: "I don't know why we succeeded where the French team had failed in previous years. Before, the players didn't want to give up either. "
The balance remains fragile. Now the French no longer have the pressure to "Win games, quickly", but the new one, to try to win the Tournament. Before the meeting, we thought these Blues capable of a feat in Wales, before folding a fortnight later in Scotland. Hard to say if one still believes in this prophecy based on experience. We start to want to follow the wind. Not the least of this team's victories.
