Scotland definitely does not succeed in the XV of France. A week after being defeated in Edinburgh (25 to 21), the French did not go far, Saturday August 12 in Saint-Etienne, from a second consecutive defeat against XV du Chardon. The Blues snatched the victory (30 to 27) from the still tough Scots thanks to a penalty from the back Thomas Ramos in the dying minutes of the match.
The France team therefore narrowly avoids the painful introspection of defeat, less than a month before starting “its” World Cup at home against New Zealand (September 8 at the Stade de France). The questions raised by this meeting are as numerous as the reasons for rejoicing, after a rhythmic game where the Blues alternated between the brilliant and the winded, the masterful and the clumsy.
We felt, on several occasions, the players of the XV of France struggling physically against very mobile Scottish players. Already, during last week’s match, the hardness of the first part of the preparation of the Blues, focused on the race and the efforts without the ball, had been put forward to explain their fatigue at the end of the match. This Saturday, around the sixtieth minute, when the breath of the French was short, the Scots were able to accelerate and get back into the game, honoring their rank as the fifth best nation in the world. “As always during warm-up matches, we are never in top form, we have to find our rhythm” agreed Blues captain Antoine Dupont after the game.
Several key players out injured
Three French players also had to leave the field, injured. And not the least: Romain Ntamack limped out, while the pillar Cyril Baille complained of the calf. After the match, the French coach, Fabien Galthié, wanted to be reassuring, evoking, for the first “knee hyperextension” and, for the second, “a bruise”. More specific news is expected at the beginning of the week.
By the start of the World Cup, the Blues will also have to erase their inaccuracies, their dross and their hesitations in attack. Too often, the French offensive inclinations have been thwarted by forwards, missed passes or misunderstandings, when it was not incomprehensible errors, as when Gabin Villière, back in Blue, harvested a ready-made try forgetting the scrum half Maxime Lucu who came up to him (71e).
But when their passes are precise and their runs controlled, the French are capable of movements that no team in the world can stop. So it is with Charles Ollivon’s essay (44e), born from a touch quickly played by Thomas Ramos for Antoine Dupont. The captain of the Blues opened the left lane to his Toulouse teammate, allowing the latter to drop the Scottish defense, before serving Charles Ollivon for a try that made the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium roar with pleasure. This action concluded a start to the second period that the French players will have to review, memorize, and store carefully, at hand, because it can be used again. In Edinburgh, they had not scored a point in the second half. In Saint-Etienne, they made the powder speak after returning from the locker room, by scoring two converted tries in the space of two minutes.
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