2023-08-13 01:11:52
Alongside his captain Antoine Dupont, Fabien Galthié returned to the many shortcomings of his team this Saturday after the sluggish victory over Scotland in Saint-Étienne (30-27), in a preparation match for the World Cup. Without worrying too much about it.
How do you explain these three tries conceded when you were leading 27-10?
FABIEN GALTHIE. First, it was a preparation match, with a different team from last weekend, who had not played together since mid-March (end of the Six Nations Tournament, editor’s note). And we were in a physiological work, performance, which was not made to be optimized today. These are conditions to be taken into account. The Scots are a month and a half ahead of us, they finished their local championship in early May, and us on June 17. It matters too. The goal is to continue working and preparing over the remaining 4 weeks until the September 8 deadline. And even during the qualifying phase we will still have the opportunity to gain momentum.
“There are many times when we are overwhelmed”
What to remember from this match?
On the content of rugby, it’s very interesting for us: we were able to see what we are capable of doing, and also our offensive and defensive incapacities. With the fatigue perhaps, compared to the Scots, we were in difficulty, both with and without the ball. We had some strong tempos, which allowed us to score and win the match. Also with Charles (Ollivon), who plays a very big match and who defends the last touch well. In the end, there were a few moments when we found what we were looking for, and a lot of moments when we were overwhelmed. They imposed a lot of rhythm and intensity on us. We were also helped a lot by our public. It was different from last week.
The composition at the end of the match has changed a lot, why?
We had to coach differently. We brought up Thomas Ramos at the opener, we slid Paul Boudehent to the center because Jonathan Danty couldn’t finish his match. We also coached in front, the first line, our third line. We worked well, we adapted well, it’s good to see how we reacted. It was a perfect practice match on that scenario.
The team still experienced air pockets…
It changes. There, it was also at the start of the match, we were overtaken, taken everywhere. Then we regain control of the game, in our own way, by the basics. Then we made bad choices, technical errors, we start to thwart, and we are quickly punished. We are not able to control the opposing team when we do not control our game.
Did you expect a better offensive performance?
When we return to these matches, we wait to see. On the offensive aspect, even if we scored three tries, we still have a lot of points for improvement in many areas, on our game of possession, as well as dispossession, on our defense. It can be explained by our inability to play fair, but also by fatigue or lack of competition. But it was a recovery, I remind you. The Scots were playing their third match, we are not at the same level. It’s good to have played them twice. And we have two very difficult opponents left to play. We will continue to work and maintain the unity of the 42 players which allows us to live the preparation as a competition.
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