An ideal world. Or almost. The Blues woke up peacefully this Saturday morning, happy with their performance the day before at Groupama Stadium in Décines (Rhône) against Italy (60-7), and, consequently, with their qualification hands down for the quarter-finals, in first place in their group ahead of the All Blacks whom they had dominated during the opening match on September 8 (27-13). Doctors and physiotherapists did not detect any problems with the bodies which appeared fresh and full of energy in the face of overwhelmed Transalpines.
“We work a lot on energy management on and off the field,” emphasizes Karim Ghezal, the assistant coach in charge of the sidelines in particular. If the players are so fresh, it is because a lot of importance is given to rest periods. » Confidence is at an all-time high. The week ahead and leading to the quarter-final on Sunday evening (9 p.m.) at the Stade de France is approached with great serenity. The Blues will first be entitled to a weekend of freedom before meeting at noon on Monday at Rueil-Malmaison (Hauts-de-Seine), the base camp where they were established at the start of the competition, before move to Aix-en-Provence then to the suburbs of Lyon to face Namibia in Marseille on September 21 (96-0) and Italy in Décines on Friday evening.
Short training sessions to “keep fresh”
“As of Friday morning, we worked on a predictive program,” explains Karim Ghezal. The two days of breathing will be good for the players and the staff. Then on Monday, we will approach a classic week, with debriefings, emotional recovery with the mental trainers, and work on the opponent, since we will know him at that time. Then, the week’s training sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday will be shorter than usual to maintain maximum freshness. The main emphasis will be on technique. Thursday will be off. The set-up will take place on Friday (day of the announcement of the team composition) at the Stade de France. And the day before the match, we will do a weight training session, like we did before Italy.”
Fabien Galthié has already given his watchword. “Whatever the opponent, Sunday will already be a World Cup final for us,” insisted the coach. South Africa holds the rope before Ireland – Scotland this Saturday evening (9 p.m.) at the Stade de France, decisive for the qualification of the two teams and which will determine for good the opponent of the Tricolores. “The Springboks are the world champions, Ireland are world number 1 and Scotland are 5th,” says Karim Ghezal. We know them well. We’ve beaten them all before and we know we can do it. But in every match we put everything on the line.”
The question now revolves around the return or not of the seriously injured, Antoine Dupont and Julien Marchand. The Stade Toulouse hooker, hit in the left thigh on September 8 against New Zealand, will know on Monday, after running tests, whether he is fit or not. The same day, the scrum half and captain of the Blues, operated on for a facial fracture on September 22, will see his surgeon in Toulouse and will know if he can consider a return to the field and training with contacts. “Antoine’s physical qualities are impressive,” Ghezal raves. He has already worked a lot with races and speed. He didn’t lose much despite his week off after the operation. On the contrary, he is in great physical shape. Now we need the green light from the surgeon. » So that this world is truly ideal.
