Fabien Galthié finally speaks after the elimination of the World Cup

The coach of the French XV Fabien Galthié spoke on Wednesday for the first time, three weeks after the elimination of the Blues in the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup. He confided that he had to respect a time of “mourning” to digest this result.

Published on: 08/11/2023 – 19:41

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Fabien Galthié has come out of silence. The coach of the French XV spoke on Wednesday, November 8, for the first time since the defeat against the Springboks on October 15 in the final phase of the Rugby World Cup.

“For us, it was a time of mourning. It’s a huge disappointment, after four years of hard work, four years of successful work with 80% victories and all these records… Our goal was to “to be world champions”, explained Fabien Galthié before speaking of a “scar that remains for life”.

Fabien Galthié broke the silence

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Favorites for the World Cup at home, the Blues fell in the quarter-finals against South Africa (29-28). The Boks then won the competition for the fourth time, also beating New Zealand (12-11) in the final after having painfully dominated England (16-15) in the semi.

Read alsoRugby World Cup: the tops and flops of the 2023 edition

“I would do the same thing”

The elimination and the disappointment change nothing for the Blues coach. “On a tactical and strategic level, if I had to do it again, I would do the same thing,” insisted Fabien Galthié, who spoke more than three weeks after the defeat.

“The only goal we wanted to achieve was to be world champions. There was no other. The disappointment would have been the same if we had lost in the semi-final by one point. disappointment would have been the same if we had lost in the final by one point. The difference is that we would have lived an extra week. The difference is huge because we wanted to experience these moments for which we have been working for four years . So, the disappointment is enormous,” he repeated, his face marked.

After this early exit, the Blues had a few weeks of vacation before returning to their clubs and the Top 14. Some, like Toulouse hooker Peato Mauvaka or Toulon third row Charles Ollivon even played again. Others, like La Rochelle third row Grégory Alldritt, will experience a longer break.

2027 World Cup objective

Fabien Galthié and the French XV have a little over two months to move on before the next deadline: a clash of revenge against Ireland, on February 2 in Marseille, in the 2024 Six Nations Tournament. Under contract until 2028, the former scrum half expressed on Wednesday his desire to continue the adventure at the head of the Blues. He is already planning for the 2027 World Cup which will take place in Australia, with a more experienced group. “This team will surely be even stronger and more experienced than the one that lost to South Africa,” he anticipated, specifying that it would of course evolve over the next four years.

After the international retirements of pillar Uini Atonio or second row Romain Taofifenua, new faces are expected, led by the generation of U20 world champions (Tuilagi, Jauneau, Gazzotti…) and the naturalization of the colossal Australian second row Emmanuel Meafou (2.03 m for 145 kg), a player who joined the Stade Toulouse training center at the end of 2018.

It is from this November 9 that Emmanuel Meafou will be able to wear the jersey of the XV of France, he who has always loudly proclaimed his desire to join the Blues.https://t.co/VPzj1MwL56

— RUGBYRAMA (@RugbyramaFR) November 7, 2023

The staff will also be renewed since attack coach Laurent Labit and sideline coach Karim Ghezal left for Stade Français while performance director Thibault Giroud joined Bordeaux-Bègles. They will be respectively replaced by Patrick Arlettaz, from Perpignan, Laurent Sempéré, from Stade français, and Nicolas Jeanjean (internal promotion).

With AFP