France’s XV returns to fundamentals against England in Six Nations 2023

completely relaunch the 2023 Six Nations Tournament. who, having returned to match the XV of Clover (15 points) thanks to the historic beating inflicted on England (53-10) on Saturday March 11, still cherish the hope of bringing the cup home.

“Tomorrow we will be attentive to the result, confirmed the tricolor captain Antoine Dupont at the end of the match. If the Irish win everything, congratulations to them. But, we wanted to play our card thoroughly, not to return the trophy so easily.” To validate their first stage point, the Blues brilliantly respected the watchword that accompanied the week of preparation for the Crunch by releasing THE match. Facing the XV de la Rose, the Blues have regained all the spice that had made them the best nation in 2022.

A third return line

First there was this smashing start to knock out the opponent. “The idea was to impose our entry pace, explained winger Ethan Dumortier. The first try was the result of good work by our forwards in the middle of the field. On strategy, we were in what we wanted to do. It’s a complete performance.” “We were solid in all areas of the game, in the fundamentals, in everything we had planned,” said fly-half Romain Ntamack. The stammerings and the divergent speeches, heard after the duel lost against Ireland, are forgotten, the page turned.

That of this third line, which hitherto pitched physically (with the exception of Anthony Jelonch), and partly explained the less brilliant copies of the Blues, is it too. Her return to grace is obvious since she signs a double (Ollivon), wins the status of the most prolific tackler on the Blues side (Cros, 13 tackles) and the most punching forward (Alldritt, 71 meters covered). “What is important is that we feel a rise in power, a linear progression whether physically and collectively”, soberly underlined the coach of the Blues Fabien Galthie in a post-match press conference.

Discipline and footwork found

“We have also progressed on the ground game, he continued. We cannot blame ourselves, when the referee frames the game differently, when the rules change, for being caught out. was determined, conquerors.” The Blues, more lucid, were less exposed to faults and were able to put pressure on the opposing rucks to provoke them. “We scratched the balloons we needed. The return of Jo (Danty) is one more scratcher, almost a 9th before, that obviously helped the team”, completed the French opener. It is a recovery of the three quarter center which is also at the origin of the first French test signed Ramos (2nd).

Another weapon on alternating current that the Blues found at Twickenham: a long and precise foot game sometimes managed by Dupont, Ntamack or Ramos, even Penaud. Thanks to this diversity of scorers and by relieving the scrum-half of several clearances in the French camp, the Blues added beneficial uncertainty to the English defense and gleaned necessary breaths.

A whirlwind finish

With a devouring pragmatism, the Blues also threw themselves successfully at the slightest opportunity and this until the end, despite the improved victory already acquired. “With a big defense, without making a mistake, we knew we were going to recover opportunities, advanced Romain Ntamack. They overplayed a little, playing by hand when it’s not really their philosophy and the balls of recovery that we had, we exploited them perfectly, especially with Damian’s double at the end of the match”.

Because, if as Antoine Dupont said “the victory is significant”, like the broken records, it only comes “to validate the work done so far.” It is “just an additional step”, on the path of Blues who intended to inflate to the maximum a goal average which has already cost them the victory of a Tournament [in 2020]. The blue recipe for becoming the best nation in the world again and getting the Tournament is perhaps simple or even basic. Still, the Blues have found the basics.