Les Bleuets have the opportunity to make July 14 a real national holiday. The French under-20 rugby team, reigning double world champions, has the opportunity to win a third title in a row, Friday at 7 p.m., against Ireland, in Cape Town, South Africa .
The Tricolores had triumphed in 2018 and 2019 but the Covid-19 pandemic prevented the holding of the following three editions. But, before intoning The Marseillaise gold medals around their necks, they will have to resist the Irish, authors of a grand slam at the last Six Nations Tournament. The XV of Clover will want to add the world crown to the “European” one won this spring.
“I don’t know if we can speak of a feeling of revenge for us, but it’s true that Ireland are the only team to have won against us this season”, says the captain of the Habs, Lenni Nouchi. On February 20 at Musgrave Park in Cork, during the second day of the Tournament, the Irish had won on the wire, 33-31, in a meeting enamelled with yellow cards (two on each side).
The French, despite five tries, failed to get the better of their opponents due to too many fouls, which allowed Leinster fly-half Sam Prendergast to pass four decisive penalties for victory final.
But Friday will be another day, wants to believe the third line of Montpellier: “They are European champions and we want to be world champions. »
“We always end well”
The coach of the Blueberries, Sébastien Calvet, renewed for this world final the team aligned against England. In the semi-finals, the Habs, led 14-24 at half-time, had managed to turn the tide on the return from the locker room to finally win by a wide margin.
“That a team puts us in difficulty, it happened to us and it will happen again, emphasizes Nouchi. The important thing is to see how we react, how we end up. However, we always end well, so for us, that’s the main thing. »
“The Irish will test us, try to put us at fault”, warns Calvet, however. But, he adds, “the strength of this group is that the players are complementary: they are both humble and, at some point, there is one who will pull the group up and appear out of nowhere”.
The coach affirms it, the Bleuets have “all the tools to worry the Irish and win” the final. In addition, a victory for the Habs against Ireland could be a great source of inspiration for the Fabien Galthié men who risk crossing paths with the men in green at the next World Cup in France, from September 8 to October 28. .