The problem, when you get used to foie gras, is that the duck mousse canape can make you gag. For 75 minutes and 30 seconds, we wondered Saturday night if there had been any deception on the merchandise. If the conquering French team of the last Six Nations Tournament had not reincarnated as one of its predecessors from the 2010s, a ghost of a recent past that we thought was over. Here, even the best player in the world seemed to miss his pumps. A counter kick, another direct touch, transmissions in the wrong timing, Antoine Dupont played upside down and, with him, the whole XV of France was coughing.
However, eight months after the March 2022 party, the decorum had not changed. The Stade de France, plunged into darkness before the arrival of the artists, rang clear and loud, the fireworks from the roof promised another on the ground and the presence of some 80,000 spectators was proof if One was needed that the Blues, less than a year from a World Cup at home for which all the tickets have already been sold (!), were making a new recipe, name of the players on the jersey or not.
A monumental “internal hook-fuss” combo!
But nothing, therefore, was going in the right direction in this first period, apart from the dazzling races of the Australians Wright and Foketi for a monumental 100-meter test that the French flair would not have denied (6-13, 18th) , just after a try, logically denied that one, to Charles Ollivon for crawling before flattening. Fortunately, just before the break, Antoine Dupont chose the moment to exteriorize, in a single tackle, all the frustration of the first act. A telluric shock on which he pushed the poor Wallabies winger Kellaway back 15 meters to offer the try by following his hooker and club partner Julien Marchand.
Chance or coincidence, between an ola and a Marseillaise, a bend in the Dionysian enclosure had just launched “Toulousains! Toulouse! “. It didn’t take but it wasn’t completely stupid when half of the France team came from the red and black club. In particular Thomas Ramos, the back-scorer, who did not need a sensor on the ball to show him the shortest route to the posts. His precise boot, even at long distance (20 points at 7 out of 9), had allowed the Blues not to drop to the score.
“It was predictable, justified Fabien Galthié. We needed to get together, to play together again against a team that is on the pace. “Hmmm… Since 2020 and the arrival of the big-framed coach, the XV of France had gone into quick-setting cement mode, capable of quickly and well assembling the foundations, walls and roof, even with second-grade workers. or third category. The argument of the lack of time spent together, after 15 days of preparation in Marcoussis, therefore leaves doubts. Especially with a “premium” team, that of the Grand Slams. So when nothing goes, when the system coughs, you sometimes have to know how to rely on individualities. The luck of this XV of France is that there is no lack of it. 75 minutes and 30 seconds, as we said: a bright pass from Jalibert for Penaud and the winger clears two defenders in his lane with a monumental “inside hook-fuss” combo! The Stade de France could explode. Penaud is not from Toulouse. But it still matters.
The game sheet
France-Australia: 30-29
Half time: 19-13
France. 2 tries: Marchand (40th), Penaud (76th). 1 conversion: Ramos; 6 penalties: Ramos (7th, 10th, 33rd, 38th, 46th, 73rd).
Australia. 2 tries: Foketi (18th), Campbell (56th); 2 conversions: Foley (18th, 56th); 6 penalties: Foley (4th, 13th, 43rd, 66th), Hodge (75th).
