After the great success of the Blue against Italy (39-3) in the quarter-finals of the World Cup, the protagonists did not hide their pleasure.
Gaëlle Hermet (captain of France, qualified in the semi-finals of the Rugby World Cup, after the 39-3 victory against Italy): “I am super happy. I think we played a rather accomplished match, we managed our first half very well when we were against the wind. We maintain and after, in the second half, we tell ourselves that we have to let go of the horses and that’s exactly what we do and we open a door for the semi-finals. So here is. (Qualification in the semi-finals) was a goal, it has been achieved but we must not stop there. We have to continue to give ourselves an opportunity to go to the final. We have fun, like the tries and the smiles at the end of the match. We know that there are still things to correct but we will work again and again”.
Thomas Darracq (coach of France): “One of the first objectives was to play in this last four, it’s done. There are 40 points today, there were still a lot of chances that we did not manage to materialize, but in the end the first objective of qualification is achieved. We will work for next weekend, it will be another game. Congratulations to the group, congratulations to the girls, to all the staff for this beautiful first step. What satisfied us is that we continued to recover, that the finishers did a lot of work. The whole group participated in this victory today and that is the image of this group, really homogeneous. All the girls want to leave their mark on this competition. It is with this whole group, these 32, that we will be able to go to the end.
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Joanna Grisez (winger of the XV of France women): “(My hat-trick) just means really great teamwork. We managed to free ourselves and it materialized like that. It’s me who scores, but here I’m thinking above all of everything we’ve done to finally succeed in breaking free behind and it feels good. Our balls arrive, the girls break free, we manage to play and that’s what I remember most of all. There were a lot of changes, we had to adapt, we had to get back on track. I think that mentally we manage to switch little by little. Time does things, step by step, like this competition. That’s how we progress.”
Caroline Drouin (opening half of Les Bleues, qualified in the semi-finals): “From the start of this match, we felt that we had the upper hand, possession, we were often at home, dominant. But for all that, we did not materialize. I think we had this click and that we also worn them well until the 60th. We didn’t panic. I think that’s also where we grew up. We also experienced a weak time at the end of the first half and for all that, we are not panicking. We really stay +focus+ on our game project and then we free ourselves, we let go and there, the score clearly reflects this desire to want to let go. We really wanted to rely on our big defense. Again, I think we can congratulate the girls for what they gave and the big heart they had in defense. Now all that’s left to do is enjoy. The last four of a World Cup is only happiness.