2023-08-18 16:31:33
No one believed it. Not even them, or not really. Because it was impossible. On October 31, 1999, in the semi-finals of the World Cup, the Blues of the XV of France defeated the All Blacks in front of a Twickenham stadium (England) dumbfounded by such a feat. 43 to 31, the score is terrible for the New Zealanders. Never, in an international match, have they conceded so many points.
The English press, as often, does not lace the next day. “France shocks the whole world”send to the front page The Guardian. The Independant applauds ” the French Revolution “. The tabloid Daily Mail salute “The Revenge of Les Miserables”. As to Daily Telegraphhe does not hesitate to ask himself: “Is this the greatest rugby game ever played? » Lady ! But how did we get here? By magic perhaps, because sometimes everything becomes unreal, because only the sporting spectacle undoubtedly upsets the obvious and summons the strongest emotions.
New Zealanders impress
Everything is written in advance, this October 31, 1999. Because who do we have on the ground? Monsters. Giants. Besides, we only see them, these All Blacks led by their oversized winger (1.95 m for 118 kg), Jonah Lomu. In the group stage, they inflicted a stinging 101 to 3 on the atomized Italians. This Cup is promised to them. Their previous confrontation with the XV of France? Barely four months earlier, in June, business folded without almost thinking about it: 54-7.
Poor Blues, who seem to drag on misery since the beginning of the year. Forgotten, the grand slams of 1997 and 1998. The 1999 five nations tournament was catastrophic (the last ones), the summer tour without any bright spots (to the humiliation against the New Zealanders is added the defeat against Tonga), and in group, they hardly flamed, even snatching victory by a hair’s breadth against the Fijians. Facing the Blacks, “we looked very small with our shorts too big”, will laugh later the French winger Christophe Dominici, 1.72 m under the fathom. In a press conference, they must above all answer a very annoying question: “How are you going to do not take 50 points? »
So, yes, they don’t play smart, the Blues. Still, they don’t feel so bad before the shock. “We had certainly lived through difficult months, with a lot of injuries, changes in the squad, and we started the competition with an obvious lack of benchmarks.explains Émile Ntamack, placed in the center of the back line. But in the quarter-finals, against a hard-to-maneuver Argentina, we made some sparks by planting five tries. Afterwards, we celebrated the victory (47-26) all together at the hotel. It was a simple happiness rediscovered, a reconnection between us. I still remember that evening. Perhaps our best moment of the whole event. So against the Blacks, we were ready to fight. Above all, we wanted to be worthy. » Christophe Lamaison, the opener of the Blues, expresses it differently: “Above all, don’t pass for charlots. »
A war of attrition
Of which act. It all starts with the haka, the famous New Zealand dance before the game. The first challenge. Except that the Blues do not raise it. Some watch the ritual absent-mindedly. Others don’t. On the other hand, once this is completed, the Blues form a circle and offer themselves a small intimate Marseillaise. A discreet but intense communion. They promise themselves: they will be there. All. And in fact, the first half is anything but a correction. The challenge, the Blues take it up now. Physically. A ferocious game of getting inside. Excessive sometimes. The Blues are often whistled. New Zealand striker Andrew Mehrtens attempts 7 penalties. He only managed three. And the first test is for the Blues, the work of Christophe Lamaison.
New Zealand winger Jonah Lomu (right) tries to escape the tackle from Christophe Lamaison. / Jean-Loup Gautreau/AFP
So, of course, there is Jonah Lomu’s reply: the ball in his hands about thirty meters from the in-goal, Blues everywhere in front of him, but the steamroller that tumbles overthrows them like bowling. Phenomenal, okay. But at halftime, the gap is limited. 17-10 for the Blacks. It’s not insurmountable. “Especially since before returning to the locker room, we notice that some Blacks are walking and struggling to come back to defense, notes Jean-Claude Skrela, the coach of the Blues, then in office for four years. We had really worn them out. We are well in the game, and above all we must not change anything. Just keep that intensity. »
Easier said than done. Moreover, barely five minutes after the resumption, the Blues watch without reaction Jonah Lomu flatten a new test. 24-10 for men in black. The beginning of the end ? Rather quite the opposite. The French do not collapse, and even come back within gunshot range thanks to four chained kicks from “Titou” Lamaison (two drops, two penalties). 24-22, it’s time to overturn the table. With a little help from lady luck.
“We lived through a time of grace. »
A favorable rebound after a kick to follow, and Christophe Dominici grabbed the leather to escape to the line. 29-24, this time for the Blues. “From there, we see the insurance of the Blacks crumbleretains Émile Ntamack. They are not used to being led. We see them looking at each other, they doubt. » The Blues drive the point home with a school test, repeated a thousand times in training. Lamaison still at the foot over for Richard Dourthe who throws himself to score. 36-24, but what’s going on?
“We then have a real impression of playing on a cloud, as if transcendedsmiles again today the third row Olivier Magne. This feeling of really having the upper hand, physically and mentally, is rare and enjoyable, and you no longer feel tired. » As proof, the tumble in which he still engages five minutes from the end, pushing the ball at his foot for 50 meters, before being doubled in the sprint by winger Philippe Bernat-Salles who scores in turn. 43-24, the Blacks conceded 33 points in less than half an hour! The blue tornado has passed, New Zealand is devastated. A last try of the Blacks on the wire does not change anything. Émile Ntamack has the right word: “We lived through a time of grace. »
New Zealand player Daryl Gibson, surrounded by Les Bleus Emile Ntamack, left, and Christophe Lamaison, right, during the semi-final New Zealand – France on October 31, 1999. / Odd Andersen/AFP
It was not going to happen again a few days later, in the final against Australia (12-35 defeat). Because the Blues left a lot of energy in the afternoon, solicited as never before by an amazed press. Because in these times of emerging professionalism (since 1995 only), and their qualification not having been provided for by their Federation, they find themselves in an extremely uncomfortable hotel on the edge of the ring road. “Two days before the final, a wedding had to be interrupted at 5 a.m. to get some sleep”remembers Émile Ntamack.
With hindsight, that disappointment faded. Their final, the Blues had already played against the Blacks anyway. “In fact, this match overwhelmed us, analysis Olivier Magne. It’s a tsunami and it never stops. People are still talking about it a quarter of a century later. It is not a coincidence. »
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The eye of the technical staff: “This semi-final will remain an exception”
Pierre Villepreux, assistant coach of the XV of France during the 1999 World Cup
“The whole group arrived at this semi-final with a scare in the ass. Faced with these monstrous New Zealanders, you had to be able to manage that. Some players expected very prepared diagrams. As always, I relied on our situational intelligence. We had noticed that they tended to go up very quickly in the first curtain, and that it was therefore possible to pass over them. In the first half, we hold the shock.
At the break, we want to be reassuring. For my part, I said that we put them in doubt. But not much more. We didn’t make big speeches. And then, on returning from the locker room, after Lomu’s second try, the Blacks gave up a little, and the referee, who hadn’t spared us in the first period, reversed his whistle. Everything is going well for us then. Two tries on overhead kicks, which we had worked on in training.
Subsequently, the commentators will evoke the traditional « french flair » to explain our unthinkable victory. But no. THE « french flair », is when a whole team in unison can transform a badly embarked situation into a winning try. A quality that the French team has today. Not that of 1999. Moreover, in the final, we do not set fire everywhere, quite the contrary. And this semi-final against the All Blacks will remain an exception. It is not this idea of the game that will triumph the day after the World Cup. »
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