The Blues make their debut this Friday evening in the VI Nations Tournament in the opening match against an opponent also looking for revenge, Ireland. After their defeat in the quarter-final of the World Cup against South Africa, the Blues want to move on, like the new captain, Grégory Alldritt, rather calm before facing Ireland.
Changes made behind the scenes
“For the moment in any case, I feel the same pressure as at every tournament. We play rugby and at a high level to have this stomach a little knotted on match day. But honestly, I don’t feel a stressed group or not well,” he explains to journalists.
On the pitch, coach Fabien Galthié has not revolutionized anything. 19 of the 23 players on the team sheet were at the World Cup in the fall. The changes took place behind the scenes, in the staff of the France team, with a new performance director, Nicolas Jeanjean, and a new coach in charge of the attack, Patrick Arlettaz.
“Try to be more efficient”
“Staff changes bring changes to the players. Even without changing the players, we should not expect revolutionary changes, but we will move slowly towards an evolution to try to be more effective,” insists the new coach in charge of the attack.
Efficiency cost the Blues valuable points against the Springboks. Details that the XV of France worked on for two weeks, videos of the quarter-final to support. Proof that to look to the future, we often have to rely on the past, even when it is still painful.