In Marcoussis,
Obviously, the defeat conceded to Murrayfield in early March (28-17), during the last Six Nations Tournament, marked the spirits.
A first stop - and the only one in six games - for Fabien Galthié and his staff since taking office.
A setback which, in the end, cost the Blues the final victory in the Tournament while the hopes of a first Grand Slam since 2010 began to be born.
Eight months later, Charles Ollivon and his teammates returned to Edinburgh, with two convincing successes against Wales (38-21) and Ireland (35-27) who started their series of autumn test matches perfectly.
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XV of France: quickly get back into the rhythm against Scotland
“It was the first defeat of this group, it's a game from which we were able to learn a lot, there was a lot to review, underlines the third center line Grégory Alldritt.
We had failed on certain points.
Now it has to be beneficial for the future. ”
In early March, the Habs - far too undisciplined - had accumulated disappointments, blows of fate against the Scots.
Express learning.
To begin with, the fiery atmosphere when arriving at Murrayfield had destabilized them, had recognized the tricolor coach.
Then, on the ground, it was the sequence ... Injury of the hooker Camille Chat from the warm-up, yellow card from the 5th minute for the flanker François Cros, exit of the opener Romain Ntamack after eight minutes of play on concussion protocol and red card for the right pillar Mohamed Haouas, before half-time (37th), after a punch addressed to Jamie Ritchie ... Too much was too much to be able to claim a result in a chamber where the Blues do not have won more since… 2014. “It's been six years since we won there (17-19 in the Tournament, Editor's note).
But it's a different story than the last match, ”insists second row Paul Willemse.
“Today, we have a sentence that says: we want to be OK in chaos. It's adapting to all situations "
Karim Ghezal
Assistant coach in charge of the touchdown, Karim Ghezal said: “We had an expression that said: we experienced chaos in this match, with everything that happened during the pre-match.
Today, we have a sentence that says: we want to be OK in chaos.
We are now working on certain scenarios, this match will have brought us that.
Being OK in chaos means adapting to all situations. ”
During high-intensity training on Wednesday, the Blues have worked in certain situations outnumbered.
Outnumbered workouts
During this defeat in the Highlands, the XV of France had above all foiled by wanting to play too much.
Lack of alternation in the French game, with Matthieu Jalibert quickly entering the opening and who will be aligned again in Edinburgh, after the withdrawal of Romain Ntamack.
“The international level demands certain criteria and certain obligatory passages.
We did 55 minutes at fourteen and this is the match where we made the most passes, where we had the most possession of the ball and the least play at the foot, ”recalls Laurent Labit, coach of the attack of the Blues.
And the former technician from Castres and Racing 92 added: “We got a little worn out chasing the events of the match.
With concerns of generosity, of wanting to do well.
But we have to strike the right balance in the conduct of our game. We have practiced playing fourteen.
I hope that Sunday's game will show the progress of our team. ”
Grégory Alldritt is on the same wavelength: “In this match, there were a lot of hazards, injuries, game facts. We had also lost the thread of the match, of our strategy.
We now know that we must keep our guideline in the field. ”
Sunday, will the Blues be animated by a feeling of revenge against Stuart Hogg's team?
“We all have in the back of our mind what happened.
But it's another context, another competition… We are working on what we have been able to do there but, in any case, we do not create scenarios.
These are two different matches, two different contexts ”, plays down Toulouse's Thomas Ramos, who should be starting at the rear in the absence of Anthony Bouthier's injury.
“This revenge, we all have it deep inside us because we had a more than average match, with a lot of faults. We have the feeling of being able to redeem ourselves ”
Camille Cat
“It's not a question of revenge.
We work very hard to be a great team, to evolve and ready for the World Cup.
We polish ourselves, we work and it's not a revenge, it's a match like any other that we want to win, ”continued UBB flanker Cameron Woki.
Take care of yourself and not others.
“Before talking about revenge, it's above all a rugby match.
We're going there to win and finish first in this group, ”says Grégory Alldritt.
Both "frustrated" at having missed the last match at Murrayfield and the one against Fiji (canceled last Sunday because of the Covid-19 case), Camille Chat will have a chance to show himself in the shoes of a holder , after having been the lining of Julien Marchand.
He is much sharper.
“If I play, I want to have a big game.
It's a little revenge on what happened.
This revenge, we all have it deep inside us because we had a more than average match, with a lot of faults.
We have the feeling of being able to redeem ourselves.
We will do what is necessary to. ”
And the explosive hooker from the Ile-de-France region to sound the revolt: "During the last Tournament, the Scottish forwards passed us over ..."
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