Less than two weeks before the first match of the Blues Six Nations Tournament, coach Fabien Galthié was in London on Monday January 23. Defending champion, the French team has met since Sunday in Capbreton in the Landes. Fabien Galthié projected himself, in a press conference, on the start of the year 2023 of his XV of France.
Journalist : In what state of mind do you approach this Tournament as defending champion?
Fabien Galthie : “With a lot of joy, pleasure and happiness. We have been together since yesterday (Sunday, editor’s note) evening. We have started our preparation and the objective is to very quickly transform this selection into the France team: relearn to speak French same language, to have the same strategy and also relearn our basic culture and fix what we call our + mission +, which is sacred”.
Journalist : After 13 consecutive victories, do you think your team still has room for improvement?
Fabien Galthie : “We really have the opportunity to continue to grow and develop. The team is in the process of acquiring maturity and collective experience. We identified very clearly, last year, points of improvement. We win the matches, it’s true, but during each of them, we had strong times but also weak times, and on that we can work very precisely to continue to grow our team and improve it”.
Journalist : The record of consecutive victories for a major rugby nation is 18, do you think?
Fabien Galthie : “When I hear you talk about this record, it moves me, it touches me, it does something to me, it’s true. We feel that why not, but each match is so special. Each match, we prepare for it like a piece of life in its own right with an opponent who represents a nation, a culture, values. We realize that we have magnificent opponents, in sublime stadiums, with incredible technical skills around them. ( And) we still want to live other matches as intensely and to remain in the sublime and the marvelous”.