An unfinished score. The XV of France has not finished its match, not controlled its destiny. Reversed on the wire by pugnacious Scots, Friday February 26 at the Stade de France, in Saint-Denis, the French in turn tasted the dish they had served in Wales six days before: a defeat on a test conceded beyond regulation time (23-27).
For not having wanted – or knew – to be satisfied with a laborious victory, after not having been able to garner the quota of points necessary for a victory in the Six Nations Tournament, the teammates of Charles Ollivon end the competition with a short second. defeat in five games. An epilogue of meetings like the 2021 vintage of the Tournoi des Bleus. Promises, with a strong taste of unfinished business.
“It’s hard to take losing like that”, recognized Fabien Galthié after the meeting. Like his players, the French coach thought he had won the match, when, beyond the siren, Brice Dulin found himself ball in hand at the end of a Scottish offensive, having only to send the oval in touch to complete the game. France would then have ended the Tournament with a short victory (23-20), failing to win the title. “We tell ourselves that the match is over and that we have won. But ultimately no, we have to defend again and they end up winning ”, lamented the French technician, without blaming the La Rochelle rear.
“We are a little stunned, assured the third row Grégory Alldritt. We tried to go after more than victory and we ended up with a lost match. “ Wanting to do too much, a final Scottish wave led to the corner test of winger Duhan Van der Merwe, and definitively showered the Blues, drunk with rain and high balls all evening.
They who hoped to win by scoring four tries and with 21 points difference, to remove the trophy from Welsh hands, failed. Venus “Fight fire with fire”, Gregor Townsend’s men responded to the French rear lines, in this “final” initially scheduled for February 28 but which had to be postponed due to Covid-19 contamination in the French ranks.
It’s over at the Stade de France! Huge disillusionment for France who bowed (23-27) at the very end of the meeting… https://t.co/v87PUrZdu1
Blues always at the limit
If the French captain, Charles Ollivon, had last weekend refuted the image of a “Coin thrown in the air that falls on the right side” to analyze the victory in extremis against the Welsh, the last three weeks have looked like a roller coaster for the French; a defeat on the edge in England (20-23), a victory obtained beyond regulation time (32-30) at the expense of XV Leek, then the Scottish eclipse on Friday. Before that, the Blues had to defend hard in the last moments in Dublin their short advantage (15-13). “In this Tournament, all our confrontations were very intense and were almost all played on the last action”, noted Fabien Galthié.
With the exception of the comfortable trip to Italy at the opening of the Tournament (50-10) – the Squadra Azzura is hardly up to the level of the other five nations – the XV of France has always flirted with the limit of the bubble. As the French group sided with the sanitary rules during the competition. Cleared of any breach of regulations despite proven escapes out of “The bubble which is not a bubble, but a protocol” – the formula is from the president of the French Rugby Federation (FFR), Bernard Laporte – and an eruption of Covid-19 within the group (sixteen cases including the coach and the captain), the Blues of Galthié are are drawn in favor of a regulation leaving a large part to interpretation.
In the second half, Friday, while the Scots evolved to fourteen following a yellow card, the Blues for a few moments hoped for an epic end to the match, which would have seen them conclude their Tournament with a symphony of tests. But despite three attempts registered, the soloists Antoine Dupont or Brice Dulin did not shine, completing a successful competition on a taste of unfinished business.
Digest up annoyances to grow
Paradoxically, this feeling of unfinished business is shared by the executioners of the Blues. Although victorious in Paris for the first time since 1999 – at the time, the Tournament still had only five nations – Scotland also showed its regrets. “We want to be a coherent team that is difficult to beat, and our journey in recent years shows it., greeted coach Gregor Townsend. But we would like to win titles and it’s frustrating not to fight for victory for two years. “
New scratching point of the Tournament, the XV of Thistle successively won in Cardiff in the autumn at the end of the 2020 edition, in Twickenham in early February, then in Paris on Friday. Firsts since 2002, 1983 and 1999 respectively. But the Scots fished at home, overthrown by the Welsh – in numerical superiority – then by Ireland, and could not compete for victory in the competition. Once again a major nation in Europe after years of fighting with Italy to avoid the wooden spoon (devolved to the team which loses all its matches), Scotland is also looking up.
Despite this defeat, and while the curtain falls on an edition rich in stunning outcomes – on the meadow as in the health instructions – the record is far from bleak for the Blues. “We had rather a good tournament, elaborates Gregory Alldritt. But we ran into a Welsh team who made it even better than us. “
Soaked in the mantra of Galthié – “Win matches and titles, fast” -, the Blues are no longer satisfied with this unfinished progress. “There are details to settle, a sum of small grains of sand to remove, so as not to end up in this second place which we no longer want”, insists Dylan Cretin.
Because for France, 2023 and its Home World Cup are fast approaching. After the time of promises, they must approach that of annoyances. Like the first bars of their next life. “We will learn from this cruel scenario and we must come back stronger, launches Charles Ollivon. We know where we come from and we will go back to work. It will make us grow. ” Reinventing yourself without throwing the progress made. To avoid getting stuck on this feeling of unfinished business.