French papers descend to using English to describe joy of beating old enemy

The French sporting press rarely struggles to find strong words - good or bad - to describe their national teams' performances, but journalists and pundits didn't quite know how to react after Les Bleus beat England in Paris on Sunday.

It wasn't disbelief. Even hard-bitten hacks have dared to dream that French rugby has finally found what it's looking for in this talented group of players, with what looks an awful lot like a coherent and co-ordinated coaching set-up.

But, on the whole, it's as if journalists have got what they always wanted and now don't quite know what to do with it.

Yes, there was the predictable post-Le Crunch splash gloating. L'Equipe and Midi Olympique descended to English on their front pages on Monday. The former's "Sorry, good game" over an image of player-of-the-match Gregory Alldritt flattening England's Owen Farrell - with five other French players and not one more Englishman in sight - was matched by the latter's "So good" on a picture of Antoine Dupont and Vincent Rattez charging in attack towards the camera.

But inside, the tone got more serious, amid talk of new beginnings and hesitant, whispered, don't-scare-it mentions of 2023.

Former France captain Thierry Dusautoir wrote in L'Equipe: "At the start of this new story, we could have feared a France team that was a little hesitant. We've seen the opposite. In terms of team building, this victory is really very interesting. It positions the first brick well, let's wait and see how it goes."

The sports' daily's analyst Alex Bardot noted that, with a distinct kicking plan in place for the first time, France had done to England at Stade de France exactly what England had done to France at Twickenham almost a year to the day earlier. The French, he said, "gave England their money back".

Midi Olympique's Marc Duzan followed the same line as Dusautoir. Under the headline "It feels so good," he wrote: "This French XV doesn't yet have the stature of potential world champions. But in the winter of 2020, the energy it gives off is heart-warming."

He allowed himself a little emotion: "How difficult it is to remain reasonable, measured or intelligent, when it comes to a victory for Les Bleus over the Rose," recalling that England, to use the French term for losing finalists in Japan, are 'vice-champions' of the World.

Unsurprisingly, to a journalist, they had only the highest praise for Shaun Edwards and what RMC Sport described as his 'defence of iron'. The players, too, were lauded for carrying it out his plan so successfully

RMC went on: "The Jacques Brunel page has turned. Fabien Galthie's version of the team is on a cycle that should take it all the way to the World Cup in 2023."

Le Figaro briefly got a little carried away as it described the victory as 'a feat to launch a new era', and said Fabien Galthie's first official match in charge 'was full of promise'. "Les Bleus, tackle after tackle, impact after impact, humiliated their opponents," it roared gleefully.

In the end, though, the slightly punch-drunk French rugby media have wisely decided to follow the advice Galthie gave to his players straight after the match. "Spend time with the fans," he told them in a short dressing room speech after the match. "Make the most of this time. Enjoy it. We'll debrief on the game [later]."