2024-03-16 23:35:20
Couple David Reyrat
Published 4 hours ago, Updated 4 hours ago
Fabien Galthié. OLIVIER CHASSIGNOLE / AFP
After the success snatched at the wire against the English, the coach presented himself with a big smile. Recognizing that it was still far from perfect.
Special envoy to Lyon
What analysis do you make of this completely crazy victory?
Fabien Galthié. We went to get this one! We went through all the moods. Explaining it is difficult. But telling it is possible. In the first half, we got into the match well. We dominate the bases, the conquest, the first collisions. We create a lot of highlights. But we lack lucidity and we do not fully realize them. With more control and lucidity, the score must be much higher… We could have finished better but we are not paying ourselves.
So you were worried that it would be expensive?
This is not the first time we have experienced this scenario. When you are not effective against a team in place, which is waiting for its turn, you expose yourself. And we took a 21-0. At that point, the building was really shaking. It’s a moment where you can say to yourself that… There you have to be really solid to do what the team did: put the pressure back where we wanted, get back moving forward, jump on the slightest opportunities, like this turnover on one key. We quickly got back in front in the score. This is where we need a collective spirit, a super-solid strength of character. And all the players who came in allowed us to plug the gaps, regain control and the score. But we have areas for improvement, we are aware of that.
This match is reminiscent of the World Cup quarter-final…
Exactly… Except that in the end, we win. That’s life. I wanted this Tournament to be the continuation of our history, a continuity. In this victory, there may be learning from what happened a few months ago…
Did the team grow during this Tournament?
I think yes. In any case, she fought… We started the Tournament by playing 14 against 15 too often and we paid dearly for these wanderings. Despite this, the team continued to be resilient, solid on certain points, not on all it is true. After the draw against Italy, we had this challenge of two matches in six days to take on. I then told the players “They are for us!“. The players stood up and said yes, they are for us. We learned a lot about ourselves…
A Tournament with years of respite, all the time burning, all the time on the go.
Do these last two victories erase a more mixed start to the Tournament?
It’s a great tournament. We had a hell of a tournament. Literally as figuratively. Without respite, all the time burning, all the time on the go. We were sometimes on the top, sometimes on the edge… We had to be solid. And the players were. Super solid even… We felt guilty with the staff for making them experience these moments. We did everything to make sure it didn’t last.
Is this 2nd place a fair reward?
I don’t know…
A word about Nolann Le Garrec, once again astonishingly masterful for his second selection.
He’s a great kid. He’s young, we want to take care of him (smile). We try to show the new people the way even though we welcomed them in the middle of a storm and discovered other environments. He was super solid on his entries and his tenures. We knew he wouldn’t give up. He gave us a lot.
Comments collected at a press conference
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