Six Nations: French media excoriate Les Bleus after 'humiliation' to 'boring' Ireland
FACING THE MUSIC: France's coach Fabien Galthie (L) speaks to the media alongside France's number eight and captain Greg Alldritt at the Stade Velodrome.
After the initial storm, a seething calm has settled over French rugby media following Friday’s Six Nations humiliation against Ireland.
They have one question: where does France go from here?
Les Bleus talked a good game in the run-in to the match at Stade Velodrome. Expectations were great that they would cast off their World Cup quarter-final loss to South Africa with a thrilling victory over their great Grand Slam rivals, and kick off the second Galthie era in glorious style.
It’s no surprise, then, that the post-match reactions were scathing. La Provence, the main regional paper in France’s second city, ripped a metaphor from 1985 blockbuster Rocky IV, in which Ireland played the role of Ivan Drago and France were cast as Apollo Creed.
For anyone who has not seen the 39-year-old late-Cold War allegory, Creed’s showman boxer died in dramatic slow-motion in the ring, following a savage beating by the robotic Drago.
Midi Olympique’s Julien Veyre opted for less cinematic violence in his view from the press box. “Les Bleus had every intention of getting the Six Nations Tournament off to a good start in Marseille,” he wrote. But they were, “caught by the throat by an aggressive and inspired Ireland”.
L’Equipe’s Renaud Bourel, meanwhile, was already at the angry stage of grief: “Green will be the colour of sorrow again,” his report began.
“It’s not the bitterness of a few weeks ago. More like vexation, a feeling of embarrassment after an evening of impotence.” He added, mirroring La Provence’s cheap view of Irish rugby: “You can find the Irish game boring, its character haunting, ‘chain rugby’ for purists. With a little more bad faith, you could also say they got no closer to being world champions than we did. The reality is they suffocated the French team from the start. [Ireland] had [France] on their heels to the point where they lost all lucidity.”
Elsewhere, Sud Ouest’s Saturday splash simply read: “Unrecognisable”.
Its report, headlined “Les Bleus hoped for a rebound: they experienced humiliation”, saw Arnaud David evoke Shakespearean tragedy: “This rout, by its scale, by its manner, raises questions. It’s as if there’s something rotten in Galthie’s kingdom.” The imagery continued: “During almost the entire first act, [France] was the ghost of the one who enchanted us for four years. Never since 2020 have we felt so devoid of ideas, devoid of energy.”
David Reyrat’s excoriating analysis in Le Figaro read: “The Irish players imposed their mastery, their drive and their determination on a bland and disorientated France side on the verge of depression.” Les Bleus were, he said, “not helped … by a game plan touted and oversold by the coach.”
He wasn’t the only one to weigh, measure and find wanting Galthie’s tactics. Colleague Arnaud Coudry questioned the collective and individual impact of France’s new staff: scrum coach Laurent Sempere, attack coach Patrick Arlettaz and conditioning head Nicolas Jeanjean. He saved his greatest ire for ex-Perpignan boss Arlettez. “We looked hard,” he said, “but we couldn’t see what he had been able to implement.”
Midi Olympic ran the numbers and found serious flaws in France’s long-vaunted defence and lineout plans. “By choosing to weigh down the pack in the name of ‘combat intensity’, Galthie … preferred Paul Gabrillagues over Cameron Woki in the second row, leaving Charles Ollivon as [France’s] only pure jumper.
“Isolated, [Ollivon] was targeted by the Irish who had noticed this flaw and chose to … counter almost all French lineouts.
“The staff were slow to repair the leak. Galthie sent out Posolo Tuilagi in the 54th minute and Woki only in the 64th. The damage was done.”
Others noted that France were beaten up at the breakdown, too. Former France coach Philippe Saint-Andre said in L’Equipe’s stepped-back analysis: “[France] were never in a position to hurt [Ireland] on the first tackle, to have someone come in quickly to challenge,” he said.
“We can talk about Paul Willemse’s red, but what surprised me was the difference in pace. The Irish did everything at 10,000 kilometres an hour: tackling and getting up faster than [France].”
And Galthie’s immediate predecessor, Jacques Brunel, said: “We need to look at our defence. We conceded four tries in the quarter-final against South Africa and we took five here against the Irish, who did not play surprising rugby.
“It’s perhaps the first tough moment [France have] had in four years. We’ll see how this team copes. [They] have to react very quickly, otherwise we could end up with a hangover.
“Fabien will be asking himself how he can revitalise the team. For me, that must come from the players themselves.”
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