Le Figaro. Your captain, Charles Ollivon, spoke of a "men's match" against Ireland. You confirm ?
Grégory Alldritt
: The watchword of the week was to be able to compete with these Irish who are very aggressive.
And we won the match in the collision stages.
It was one of the toughest matches I have had to play.
And, in addition, hooked until the last second.
It is therefore a real big satisfaction.
It's the kind of game we could have lost a year ago.
It proves that we learn, that we grow, that we continue our little way
How did you experience the huge last defensive streak which lasted almost three minutes?
When you have just played 80 minutes and the match is played for 3 or 4 more minutes, we ignore all the sores, all the fatigue (
smile
).
But I can assure you that when the final whistle blows, it all comes back.
We're washed out.
I felt completely drained.
This is easily understood given your performance. You are the player who won the most meters with balls in hand during this match (99 meters, 14 balls carried). Are you tireless?
(Laughs)
Tireless no… I don't necessarily pay much attention to all these statistics.
But it is true that I had good feelings.
And, frankly, behind this pack and with this hinge that held the game together, it's easier for me.
"
In this group, there are only big competitors who want to win all the matches
"
How important is this victory in the construction of the France team?
It is an extremely important victory.
After that, that's all the difficulty, but also the beauty, of the Tournament, is that we win in Italy, we win in Ireland, but nothing is done.
There is still the very complicated reception of the Scots in great form, then a trip to England and finally the reception of Welsh who also won their first two matches.
It is therefore far from over.
But this victory is good for confidence.
Of course.
It's good for the group.
We take all the victories.
In this group, there are only big competitors who want to win all the matches.
We are obviously very happy to have won this one.
I can't imagine the disappointment if we lost him in the 80th minute ...
Is ending ten years of failures in Dublin an additional pride?
We had mentioned it between us.
We knew that the France team had been coming to Dublin for ten years to cheek, cash and suffer for 80 minutes.
We wanted to put a maximum of intensity so as not to suffer in our turn but to submit, not to be attacked but to attack the Irish.
We really wanted to impose our rugby at the Aviva Stadium.
"
Just for Gaël's 60th (Fickou), we could not miss the engagement
"
We saw scenes of jubilation and even tears after this victory…
There was a lot of emotion, it's true.
Because we work very, very hard during the week to live these moments.
This is the first award of this Tournament.
There was also emotion on Saturday, the day before the match with a shirt presentation ceremony in honor of Gaël Fickou who honored his 60th selection in Dublin.
We did a little thing in us, yes.
It was important for us this 60th selection of Gaël.
When I arrived in the French team, he greeted me with a smile.
He is always there for everyone.
With a smile, whether in good times or in bad times.
He's a golden person.
Just for him, we could not miss the commitment we were going to put in this match.
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You often talk about work, like your teammates. Is it in this value that the state of mind of this French team manifests itself?
For the past year, the whole team has displayed an impeccable state of mind.
Permanently.
It means never giving up in training, never giving up a race, working hard, preparing hard for the match, whether individually on the analysis or collectively on the field.
It is all this together which explains that, on the day of the match, the state of mind is there, that the group lives very very well.
Everything is connected.
How do you explain this radical change in just one year?
Already, the whole group is on the same wavelength.
Then, the staff do a huge job, both on and off the pitch ... It all started with the first match, this victory against England where we all sacrificed ourselves for each other.
We won and it created something.
That we try to maintain in each game.
"
Trying to bring a little joy to all these people who follow us, that carries us
"
Raphael Ibanez and Fabien Galthié continue to stress the importance, in this period perturée by Covid, successful good games for private stadium fans, kids and players driving private amateurs ...
It carries us.
We know that we are being followed more and more, we are receiving more and more messages of support.
And, frankly, each of these messages motivates us even more.
We know that these people are fully behind us.
We talk about it among ourselves.
It's important for us to try, I mean to try, to bring them a little joy.
And we can't wait to find a full Stade de France!
Do you feel like they are on a mission?
Of course.
Every time we wear this jersey, we are prohibited from failing in the entry.
And I think the French expect that from us: a team with an irreproachable state of mind, which gives everything on the field, whether it wins or loses.
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Thursday, like your 30 teammates, you will be released to return only Sunday evening to Marcoussis. Was this cut essential?
For four days, we will find our homes, our loved ones.
This is a very important cut because we give a lot here.
It is also important to recover psychologically.
These four days of regeneration will allow us to come back even stronger to prepare for the match against Scotland (
Sunday February 28 at the Stade de France
).
Is it hard to live this health bubble?
Not at all.
We're starting to get used to it.
And then everyone gets along very well.
We organize a lot of activities between us, group life is quite lively.
Afterwards, sanitary bubble or not, these four days are welcome.
It will do us good.
What kind of match do you expect against these Scots?
We could see that they are in great shape.
They are physically very ready, they move around a lot, produce a lot of play, increase the playing time. We played them twice in 2020 (
one loss, one victory, NLDR
).
We know that we will have to put a lot of commitment again.
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