Special envoy to Murrayfield,
It was too complicated. Eleven conceded penalties, a yellow card, a red card. Impossible, with this chronic indiscipline, to hope to return victorious from Murrayfield for the first time since 2014. Failure, therefore. The fourth in a row in these decidedly cursed Highlands for the XV of France.
“This red card means 45 minutes to 14. We were already out 10 minutes inferior to yellow. So more than 55 minutes at 2pm… ”, summarizes Fabien Galthié.
Red card
New Zealand referee Paul Williams has been busy. And it could even have been worse. In the 4th minute, when he asked for video arbitration on the tumbling of Grant Gilchrist, who fell on his head, the threat of a red card was very close.
We see on the images François Cros tackle on his knees and turn over the second Scottish line. Whose impressive fall is accentuated by the push of Paul Willemse. But the man in black finally believes that it is more of an awkward tackle than an intention to hurt and the Toulouse flanker is doing well with a yellow card.
Paul Williams will be less lenient just before the break. A big scuffle in front of the French test line and the English linesman, Wayne Barnes, signals a bad move. Another recourse to TMO and, very quickly, the culprit is obvious. Mohamed Haouas strikes a line to the face of Jamie Ritchie. And it does not matter that the Scots are at the origin of this bad gesture by attacking Julien Marchand. Coming to the rescue of his hooker, the pillar of Montpellier had committed the irreparable. And will probably be suspended for the last trick against Ireland.
“It's a young team that goes through very intense emotions. And it's good. We will have to manage them better. This control requires learning, a path. We are young and under construction. We got trapped ... "
Fabien GalthiéFabien Galthié, very calm, almost stoic at the time of the confidences, ensures not to be angry at the pillar of Montpellier. “I haven't had much discussion with Haouas. We must remain calm, accept the decisions. There is nothing to say. It's a scuffle, a general fight. Perhaps with experience, we will learn to stop things before, not to fall into it, because it can backfire on us. We are young and under construction. We were trapped ... "
Charles Ollivon did not want to add more either.
“Indiscipline costs us dearly. We cannot and we will not turn a blind eye to it. This is not the only explanation for our defeat. But, inevitably, we failed in controlling emotions, ”admits the captain. An opinion shared by the coach.
A lesson that will serve
“It's a young team that goes through very intense emotions. And it's good. We will have to manage them better. This control requires learning, a path. "That the Blues started in accelerated at Murrayfield. A lesson that will certainly serve for the future.
To become a great team, you have to control your nerves. Since the start of the tournament, the discipline sector was on high alert. The Blues made a lot of mistakes in each game. Promising to learn the lesson and improve on the next outing. A promise that will have to be kept at the end of the day, or else they will have a bad reputation with the referees, which it will be difficult to get rid of afterwards ...
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