The new staff members Arlettaz, Sempéré, and Jeanjean will have to quickly find solutions. Fabien Galthié’s second term has started with a new staff.
With a severe blow. Three areas were in great distress on Friday against Ireland.
Just a slow start? Against Ireland, the French team were unrecognizable.
Transparent and uninspired in their attack, reminiscent of the worst recent times of French rugby. No game plan, no significant movements, sterile attacks.
*”I was hired so that we could be as efficient as possible when we have the ball. Ping-pong rugby, a deserted midfield, the French machine was almost at a standstill.
There was too much waste, turnovers, dropped balls. Less speed than usual.
We didn’t prepare accordingly. “* Next Saturday, at Murrayfield, the pace could be even higher against the enthusiastic Scots.
Careful not to fall apart in mid-flight again. Four wayward lineouts and an inability, throughout the match, to launch the game.
That’s where the problem lies, the French team conceded two textbook tries, constructed exactly the same way: the ball caught by the first jumper and a hugely dynamic driving maul immediately after. Without battling in the air, the French forwards were then powerless against the impressive and well-executed Scottish mauls.
A completely lost battle for the French. The worst since Fabien Galthié’s arrival.
*”We were constantly chasing the score. This wide gap led us to curl up,”* admits François Cros.
*”We didn’t play freely, we didn’t implement our system. “* and adds: *”We know Ireland’s style of play.
It’s a team that moves a lot. We wanted to oppose our power to them.
“* Nicolas Jeanjean had explained to *Le Figaro* before this first match, that *”we cannot transform the players in just ten days. We can simply prepare them for what they will experience on the field.
“* For their first match in this 2024 edition, they clearly did not realize what they were up against. And already a perilous trip to Murrayfield is looming, where the Galthié’s team has only won twice in four visits since 2020.