What is your warm feeling after this defeat on the wire?
Fabien Gathié
: The two teams delivered a great match.
Before a denouement that must be digested.
It is played out once again in the last minutes… But above all, I am proud of my players, of their solidarity.
It's a game that makes you grow.
It is not won but they felt we could win it.
There are two-three key moments that, perhaps, would have allowed us to finish it more comfortably.
In the end, the English dispossess us of the ball because we concede penalties, lost balls… But that's good.
The team learns.
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You mention another scenario. Which ?
If we remake the match, we have the possibility of constructing it differently.
At the end of the first half, for example, we make a very good carried ball which must go into the in-goal.
Instead, we get penalized two meters from the goal line as we dominate the collision.
If we mark there.
Well obviously with ifs… Afterwards, we are usually more efficient in the occupation, we could have gone out faster a few times.
And then, at the end of the match, we are too penalized.
We go back, we give them free balloons.
We're losing control.
In the first period, the France team uses a lot of energy to play fast touches, to make dispensable raises. Was it a plan or individual initiatives?
We got a little intoxicated.
We are always in a position to have two options: either leave the camp at the foot, or hold the ball.
We left energy there, yes.
And also points.
But it's all a matter of choice and feeling ...
"The game against Wales depends on our ability to share and experience the frustration together"
Don't you regret having called in more replacements? Serin, Ntamack and Jelonch did not even come off the bench…
As much as the first half was very rhythmic, very intense, the second was more jerky, without a lot of rhythm… (
He thinks
) We will watch it cold.
The English will seek victory in the last minutes so yes, they finish better, stronger than us, it's true… They managed to occupy the field better than us especially.
But the players finish in good physical condition.
It is not the management of the end of the match that is the problem.
It is because we are penalized as much, it is a ball that does not go into touch, a midfield launch that does not end as expected ...
Is this defeat any different from the one in Scotland last year?
It is very different!
In Scotland, we play more than half time at 14 and we end up far from the Scots.
There, we are still ahead, 3 minutes from the end.
The taste for defeat is instantaneous.
In the collective experience, it is different.
But it is part of the experiences to go through.
We are preparing to win but also to live the defeat as well as possible.
We must use it to continue to progress.
It's only our 12th game, I remember ...
How to bounce back from this defeat?
By keeping the positive.
We will digest this result together and switch to Wales now.
This match starts right away.
It depends on our ability to share and live together the frustration to plan for the meeting that awaits us next Saturday.
Interview by videoconference
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