2023-09-14 23:47:56
Let’s pale. Despite the fervor of a public inclined to celebrate its favorites, the Blues sadly dominated Uruguay, 17th nation in the world ranking, this Thursday evening in Villeneuve-d’Ascq (27-12). There was probably too much excitement in the air. And it’s a bit as if this furious, electric and swirling wind which tumbled from the stands had ended up making the Blues dizzy. To make them lose their minds. The “Marseillaise”, the “who doesn’t jump isn’t French”, the olas, reached the stands as soon as the kick-off had been whistled. The Tricolores are popular, but more than that, their first steps in this World Cup, reinforced by a prestigious success against the All Blacks (27-13) in the opening match, are sowing seeds of madness behind them.
An exacerbated enthusiasm took shape around them, playing the role of irrepressible, irreversible support. The danger may be there. No overflowing and paralyzing emotion here, as in 2007 during the first World Cup organized in France, which ended up sending the Blues very far from their initial expectations (4th in the competition), but a constant call to surpass themselves which can prove counterproductive if not controlled.
Fabien Galthié’s men completely missed the start of the match. The understudies played backwards. The Blues quickly appeared muddled, without a common thread, without a backbone, each trying their luck on their own. One without the other. And they only owed their relative tranquility in the score to the weakness of the opponent. The Uruguayans’ blunders were legion, preventing them from translating their combative spirit into points.
Questions about bench depth
The try of winger Freitas on a miss from Jaminet too short when recovering a diagonal at the foot of the opener Etcheverry sounded like a warning without follow-up in the 6th minute. No follow-up? Not quite. His friend Amaya even put his team back on the heels of the Tricolores (55th, 13-12) with a three-quarter movement that made the dispersed troop led by Anthony Jelonch pale.
It’s difficult to find excuses or extenuating circumstances. The Blues are even rather varnished and owe it to the refereeing clemency to have finished at 15. Romain Taofifenua’s high tackle on scrum half Arata, with a shoulder blow touching the head, was simply sanctioned with a yellow card (27th), accompanied by the bunker rule. The video judges ultimately found nothing to complain about and the color did not vary. Happy. But what indiscipline elsewhere! “15 penalties is huge,” lamented Cameron Woki. This is unacceptable internationally. It’s fortunate to have won this match with so many penalties. I thought we had done a lot of work on discipline…”
The most surprising thing in the end is that the staff’s adjustments at half-time did nothing. The copy remained messy, crossed out, incomplete. The Tricolores were satisfied with very little even though we thought they were safe from this kind of disappointment. Even if Dupont, Jalibert, Ramos, Alldritt, Ollivon or Fickou were not there, we imagined their training buddies close to them, raised under their thumb, in their wake, on the same wavelength. This is not the case. The Blues bench is perhaps not as deep as it seemed. The great tour, until the quarter-final in mid-October, will still take place. Against Namibia, Thursday September 21 in Marseille, then against Italy on October 6 in Lyon, executives will return. And the stands will be able to start singing again.
#FranceUruguay #recognize #Blues