2023-10-15 09:20:00
How to deal with Dupont Gueule Cassée, the one they already call “Castel Noir”? How can you avoid the wrath of the referee by targeting him as they usually do? This is the fear of South Africans. Make the gesture too much. Receiving a red card during this France-South Africa quarter-final on October 15, passing for thick brutes, massacrers of “war wounded”. And terribly weaken their team, in the event of exclusion, in a duel that is predicted to be devastating.
Their coach, Rassie Erasmus, warned them. They must not make the man with the titanium zygomatic a rugby martyr. Do not rush at him in gladiator fashion, calm their enthusiasm, their virulence, their desire to play Robocop. Basically, avoid the card by delivering an irregular card, the tackle too many, the one that sends you back to the locker room. Their coach alerted them to the big weakness that the game directors feel for Antoine Dupont, the Little Prince of Ovalie, so well behaved, so disciplined, so attentive to their decisions.
More cautious tackles
His objective is also to be wary of the “fake side”, according to him, of the Blues. This is undoubtedly one of the paradoxes of this France-South Africa. The Springboks, fans of rough combat, bordering on regularity, will have to curb their ardor on the French number 9. “Be careful,” warned Erasmus, “the French tend to simulate and put the referees in their pockets. Dupont is their best weapon, not just for his play.”
Translation: managing the referees’ favorite, authorized to play, will also be part of the tactics of the opponents of the French rugby team. Will they let their guard down and practice flannel tackles? cotton “pads”, so far from their DNA? The slogan “Hands off Dupont Machoire d’Acier!” » is, of course, not on the agenda. Only a few fanciful utopians can believe in this scenario for children’s books.
The black helmet in the crosshairs
But the Toulouse genius, black helmet on his face, risks turning out to be a serious asset, unlike the birds of ill omen who think that this paraphernalia will handicap him, that it will reduce his field of vision. The X factor in titanium plate, because Dupont will increase tenfold the desire of the French pack to lead a total fight to protect its little nugget. Do not expose him too much, win the duels to make him play in an armchair, without risk for the jaw bone which commands laughter.
The Magnoac kid’s zygomatic injury is a sign that the Blues are going to use barbed wire in their game to give him back his childish smile. For him to unleash his legs of fire, they will have to muzzle the opposing third line, with their trio Alldritt, Jelonch, Ollivon, not only ruthless tacklers, but also skillful tacticians, who will know how to cajole the referees so that the latter become attentive goalkeepers. of their jewel with intact explosiveness.
Rugby is not a sport of thick bullies. The mind, the art of sowing doubt among game directors, is as essential as well-executed framing-overflow. The Springboks coach has also prepared his boys to the tactic of not alienating the referees. Ben O’Keefe, the youngest game director of this World Cup, the man who will be in charge of this trap match, will have a lot to do. He has a mission: to protect Dupond from the fury of the evening’s adversary without being obsessed with the fate of Casque Noir. As they say, in sport, he’s going to have to stay in the game. Not easy.
* Former editor-in-chief of “L’Obs”, Serge Raffy has published around ten books, including biographies of Fidel Castro and Lionel Jospin, four novels and a collection of poetry. At “Point”, he published a column entitled “Quartier libre”.
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