Until then, these Blues had never drank the chalice to the dregs. Since Fabien Galthié took office at the helm of the XV of France at the end of 2019, the French coach prided himself – rightly – on having always been “in the match”, even during the few defeats conceded in four years. Friday February 2, when two minutes from the siren, hooker Ronan Kelleher completed the Irish triumph by scoring a fifth try, an almost exact copy of the fourth, in a Stade-Vélodrome in Marseille that had long been silenced, the Blues were looked at, panting. Dominated in all areas by a formidable Irish machine, Grégory Alldritt’s teammates suffered their heaviest defeat against Ireland (17-38).
“It hurts my headrecognized after the meeting the new French captain, who replaces Antoine Dupont, who left to pursue his Olympic dream. We’re not used to losing like that. This is not the face of the France team that we want to show. » A little more than three months after their elimination on the wire in the quarter-final of the World Cup by South Africa (28-29), the French never managed to go the distance in the face of the serenity released by a XV of Clover almost surprised to be so in control. “I would have been happy if we had won narrowly, smiled Peter O’Mahony. But here, we couldn’t dream of better. »
This year, no observation round or “weekend in Rome” to gently launch the Six Nations of the Blues. The organizers had chosen a shock to set the scene: France against Ireland, the last two winners of the continental competition – grand slam each time. In terms of shock, there was none, other than that experienced by the spectators at the Stade-Vélodrome, rendered sluggish by the masterful lesson delivered to the Blues by the Irish.
Caught up by a feverishness that seemed to have evaporated
All the actors had insisted before the meeting: this was not revenge. Neither from the early elimination of the two teams from the World Cup which they saw themselves winning, nor from last year’s meeting in Dublin (victory for the XV du Trèfle, 32-19), which paved the way towards the grand slam Irish, a few weeks later – one St. Patrick’s evening. Not a revenge, therefore, but a demonstration.
In the first half hour, the Blues did not see the light of day. Overwhelmed by a Clover XV reciting its rugby, the French quickly gave in, conceding two tries (by Jamison Gibson-Park and Tadhg Beirne). “We started the match badly, we were quickly put under pressure”analyzed the third line François Cros after the game, regretting a team “reaction”having “ran after the score” all evening. A French XV was also reduced to fourteen after the expulsion, shortly after the half-hour mark, of Paul Willemse for two yellow cards – each time for touching an opponent’s head. Returning to the Blues after missing the World Cup due to injury, the Montpellier second row experienced a nightmare.
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