The French XV won on Saturday against England for their last match of the Six Nations Tournament. By winning their 111th “Crunch”, the Blues finished in second place, behind Ireland. “We went for this victory,” reacted coach Fabien Galthié, who nevertheless admitted that “with a little control, the score could have been heavier”.
Published on: 03/17/2024 – 11:24
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By overcoming England (33-31) on Saturday, March 16, thanks to a penalty from Thomas Ramos at the last minute, the XV of France partly made us forget its poor start to the Six Nations Tournament, won for the second consecutive time by Ireland.
When entering the field, the Blues, who finished second behind the XV of Clover, had already learned of the Irish victory over Scotland (17-13), synonymous with the sixth victory in the Tournament since 2000 and the transition to six nations (four Grand Slams).
It is the first time since England’s double in 2016 and 2017 that a team has retained their title.
“I’m really disappointed for the players (…) We didn’t get the result we wanted but look at the fight they put up. It was an incredible match. We can be proud”, underlined England coach Steve Borthwick.
“France is a very good team, with a lot of power and speed. They knew how to stay composed to get the victory,” he added.
Despite everything, Fabien Galthié’s men fulfilled their part of the contract by dominating the English to secure second place in the Tournament for the fourth time under the coach’s mandate.
“We went through all the moods. We went for this victory,” reacted the Blues coach to AFP. “We wanted to win this match: we entered the match very well, with the domination of our forwards, a physical domination. We created a lot of highlights but we were not lucid, we did not achieve results. With a little control, the score could have been heavier.”
A positive result in the end, but which does not overshadow the difficult start, marked by a heavy setback at home to Ireland (38-17).
The rest was not much happier with a slightly lucky victory in Scotland (20-16) followed by a pitiful draw against Italy (13-13).
They ended up raising their heads in Cardiff against Wales (45-24) before continuing in front of the XV de la Rose.
In the capital of Gaul, the Blues, well in place, were able to count on tries from young scrum half Nolann Le Garrec (20th), fullback Léo Barré (56th) and center Gaël Fickou (60th) to make the difference.
“A real pleasure to beat the English”
The terrible disillusionment of the 2023 World Cup does not seem to have been completely digested and this narrow success against the XV de la Rose was also a summary of the French Tournament: some good with classy offensive actions and some frankly less good marked by absences guilty, particularly in defense.
If Grégory Alldritt’s teammates played with fire, notably by conceding a fourth try by winger Tommy Freeman (75th), they also knew how to raise their heads even though they seemed cornered and unable to react. Especially since, as in Cardiff, the bench, starting with the replacement hooker Peato Mauvaka or the third row Alexandre Roumat, made its contribution until the delivery of the long distance penalty from Ramos (79th) at the very end of the match.
“We must congratulate the group for all the energy and commitment put into the match,” reacted Grégory Alldritt, captain of the XV of France, after the match. “It wasn’t very controlled at certain times, but that’s the risk. We put a lot of energy into it and it’s largely thanks to that that we were able to win. I’m super proud of the group . We were mistreated at certain times, we were criticized, rightly so. But no one gave up, everyone showed character. We managed to rebuild together.”
“It’s a real pleasure to beat the English!” declared Léo Barré, fullback.
François Cros, third row, omnipresent during the match, reacted: “Finally a victory at home! It was complicated, but we went for it in the last minutes”.
The opening half Thomas Ramos also stood out by finishing as the best director of the Tournament ahead of the Scotsman Finn Russell (47 points), with sixty-three points including eighteen against the English. He had already achieved such a feat last year, with 84 points this time.
But all this remained secondary as Ireland continued its inexorable march towards its twenty-fourth coronation in the Tournament, just to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day a day early.
The Tricolores won their first home match since the defeat inflicted on Italy (60-7), during the group stage of the 2023 World Cup… on October 6, 2023.
It was already in Lyon. An ideal way to come full circle and end with a nice final clap.
With AFP
