2023-07-30 03:43:18
The Blues are on the weekend. After a little training with opposition and in public sprinkled with scattered rain, early Friday afternoon in Marcoussis (Essonne), the Tricolores quickly sped to reach stations or airports in order to spend the evening and the following two days in family. “It will do us good, I will rest, that’s all, because I need it”, blows the Parisian Sekou Macalou, who, like the Racingman Gaël Fickou, came to answer the press before quickly joining his home.
Gathered since Monday in Marcoussis, the forty-two players selected for this second sequence of preparation for the World Cup in France (September 8 – October 28) have sweated a lot on and off the field. This is also the principle of this Galthié version preparation: an alternation of intensity and rest. The two weeks of the “physical” course in Monaco were followed by nine days of vacation with an individualized program for each.
“Everything is calculated, we never run for nothing”
“This month of July was very hard physically and mentally, it was trying, explains Gaël Fickou. It was very well managed by the staff. We had a lot of cuts to go home, unlike the preparations I experienced (2015 and 2019). Everything is calculated. We never run for nothing. We do everything thoroughly. Everything has been organized for months, years. I think it’s a good preparation, finally we will see it when we go to the matches. »
VIDEO. Émilien Gailleton, “the UFO” of French rugby selected by Fabien Galthié
Another innovation compared to previous editions, four meetings will punctuate the month of August. Scotland in Edinburgh on Saturday 5th, then in Saint-Étienne on the 12th, Fiji in Nantes on the 19th and finally Australia at the Stade de France on the 27th. the next month, adds the three-quarter center of Racing 92, especially with the matches to come. They must serve us to be the best possible against New Zealand (September 8). This is the peak, at the very beginning of the competition. »
The Blues have also taken a look at the Rugby Championship, the Southern Nations tournament where the All Blacks have already won in Argentina (41-12) before dominating South Africa at home (35-20) and to go this Saturday (11:45 a.m.) to Australia on the last day.
“We are starting to follow them, to analyze them, underlines Fickou, even if we are focused on Scotland which arrives in a week. We see that New Zealand is performing at the moment and has come back to the fore. I will watch his game against Australia, maybe not live but in the weekend for sure. »
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