The XV of France makes the splits (96-0) against Namibia but worries about Antoine Dupont – Libération

Rugby World Cup 2023 in FrancedossierThe Blues’ match turned into a demonstration this Thursday, September 21 in Marseille, with a record score. The early exit of Antoine Dupont after a shock is the only downside.

The Pope’s arrival, at the same place, two days later, may have been trumpeted for ages, but it would have taken infinitely more for Namibia to benefit from a miracle, this Thursday, September 21, at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille . And it was even, conversely, hell for Africans. Scattered like a puzzle by the XV of France, 96-0, it is of course not in the Bouches-du-Rhône that the 21st nation in the world ranking hoped to achieve the first victory in its history within the framework of a Coupe du Rhône. world (his seventh, oddly enough). But perhaps it nevertheless caused considerable harm to France – two weeks before its last group match against Italy, on October 6 in Lyon -, with the injury at the start of the second half of ‘Antoine Dupont, hit in the face in a brutal charge from center Johan Deysel, player (without a club) logically expelled, while his victim went straight to take exams, thus leaving a big shadow over the popular jubilation.

The village party

A strange week, indeed, in the second largest city in France which, beyond the occasional visit of the sovereign pontiff, is struggling with the 1,497th psychodrama in the history of OM. Moreover, at the time when the Blues were galloping on the southern green grass, OM were at war in Amsterdam (3-3) in the Europa League, against a backdrop of conflict between leaders and supporters. A hell of a pastis, compared to which the local rugby situation seems clear. Throughout the year, nothing happens, or very little (let’s remember the sad flop of the Marseille-Vitrolles club which, in 2009, hit the headlines with the recruitment of the all black icon Jonah Lomu, already sick and exhibited like a circus beast). On the other hand, each time the Blues relocate a match to the shadow of the Old Port (France-Namibia being the fourteenth), there is a party in the village. Only good memories, assured Fabien Galthié upstream, with all the players and members of the staff, in unison, to shower praise on this warm, turbulent audience, capable, it is said, of transcending their own, in the most difficult moments. reviews. Who, we are not going to peep, were conspicuous by their absence, as part of this third tricolor meeting of Pool A.

One victory chasing the other, it was indeed necessary to evacuate the briny aftertaste that had been left by France-Uruguay (27-12) of Lille, won a week earlier by a borrowed team, made up of substitutes (yes, yes ), certainly eager to move up the ranks and yet almost all incapable of shaking up the hierarchy. As a result of which the management, certainly more grumpy than it had wished to let appear, had chosen this time to tenure all the big names (except Grégory Alldritt, saved following a slight injury in training, and present in the stands, like the unfortunate Romain Ntamack, deprived of the main event), in a meeting so unbalanced that it would almost become complicated to draw reliable lessons for future events (where to win by a simple point against Ireland or South Africa would have a completely different value).

Great rides

Made up partly of semi-pros and amateurs who, divided between France, Russia, the United States and South Africa, rarely play together, Namibia made no secret that the only match within its reach seemed to be the one to come. against Uruguay. Stunned by the atmosphere, the visitors quickly understood their pain, who were going to endure no less than fourteen tries, in a disheveled encounter conducive to long rides (and minor blunders) where, on either side of the field, the Wingers Damien Penaud and Louis Bielle-Biarrey added to the bill without qualms.

With overwhelming physical and technical superiority, the French XV knew how to win in style, the two teams finishing with a lap of honor in front of 63,000 fans in no hurry to leave the enclosure. With almost a hundred points scored, France explodes its record for the largest gap in a World Cup match, which dates back to 2007 and an 87-10 already against Namibia (…which had conceded 142 points in 2003 against the ‘Australia). These statistics were all anecdotal, however, we said to ourselves, as we rushed out of the stadium, towards Notre Dame de la Garde, in order to light a candle while waiting for news from the hospital where Antoine Dupont had unexpectedly gone to conclude his Marseille evening. .