International third row Grégory Alldritt, named captain of the French XV on Wednesday for the Six Nations Tournament, spoke on Friday of a “very great honor and a lot of pride” and confided having exchanged with Charles Ollivon, another contender for the armband.
“The priority is to have a group of leaders”
“As I said to Fabien (Galthié, coach of the Blues), it’s a very, very great honor, a lot of pride. But personally, I’m focused on my club, I avoid thinking about all that and all the alongside”, declared Grégory Alldritt during the press briefing preceding the Champions Cup match which La Rochelle is to play on Sunday, in Sale, “the most important match of the season”, according to him. “There have been a lot of articles (on his captaincy in the selection), I admit that I have not read everything, but I will savor from Sunday evening because before Monday, I am not captain of the XV of France”, recalled the number 8 from La Rochelle.
As soon as his appointment as captain was announced, Grégory Alldritt, who had already taken on this responsibility during the preparation match for the 2023 World Cup against Fiji, called Charles Ollivon. “He’s someone I get on very well with and he’s really a player and a man I like. It was important to talk about it with him, there’s no problem there- on it, and I’m sure he’ll be the first to support me.”
Regarding his new mission, “the priority is to have a group of leaders (around you)”, citing in La Rochelle “the Romain Sazy, Victor Vito, Uini Atonio or even Will Skelton, ‘great gentlemen’ who we look forward to necessarily serves.” “I have this chance at club and I will also have this chance with the French team. As long as there is that, I am not worried. I try to draw a little bit from everywhere and create my sauce,” he concluded.