For this Crunch against England, Fabien Galthié and his staff were deprived of three players considered to be executives, obvious holders: the second-line Bernard Le Roux (hit in the thigh), the opener Romain Ntamack, who did not only resumed competition last week after a two-month absence due to a broken jaw, and finally third-row François Cros, who is still experiencing pain in his fractured foot in the fall.
To replace them, had been aligned at Twickenham Romain Taofifenua, Matthieu Jalibert and Dylan Cretin.
And the three rose to the challenge.
They shone in the “Temple of rugby”.
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Obviously, at the time of the balance sheet, "there is a little frustration to lose like that on a match that we had in our hands and that we could have won", recognizes the Lyonnais Dylan Cretin.
Same disappointment for the opener of Union Bordeaux-Bègles: “We made a good start to the match, a good first half.
In the second half, we lost track of the game a bit.
We made a lot of mistakes on our launches, there was indiscipline ... These are small details that cannot be forgiven.
It's a shame because we felt like we could do something big today at Twickenham. ”
“We know that places are hard to get. Each time you have to give the maximum, whether you have 80 or 5 minutes to play "
Dylan cretin
Each in their register, the three usual "liners" responded.
In the second row, Romain Taofifenua delivered a dantesque performance, delivering 17 tackles and never decreasing in intensity and aggressiveness.
Letting you forget Bernard Le Roux and his monstrous slaughter.
The Blues have long made doubt a XV de la Rose physically jostled and sometimes without a solution in the game. “Physically, we made things complicated for them.
With that, we can be quite satisfied even if in the last five minutes we lose the match.
Over the entire match, we felt good.
Collectively, we played a big game.
We were collectively quite solid and we did not give up in defense, continues Dylan Cretin.
We scored two great tries and put in place what we had worked on (in training).
It wasn't all bad, but we missed the last three minutes to win. ”
With these remarkable performances, did Jalibert, Cretin and Taofifenua shake up the hierarchy?
Touched in the thigh, Bernard Le Roux could return next week against Wales.
Dylan Cretin could chain him, unless the staff wants to see Anthony Jelonch at work - who did not come into play on Saturday - against the rough Welsh.
The LOU flanker reminds us that “the goal for each exit” is to stand out: “We know that places are hard to get.
You have to give the maximum each time, whether you have 80 or 5 minutes to play.
I'm happy with the game but the frustration is hard to digest at the moment.
We have to let a little evening go by.
On my match, I am quite satisfied, we felt good.
It's nice to play games like this. ”
“I came here freed and I didn't necessarily think about the competition. As I said, we are two numbers 10, we train hard to be able to play ”
Matthieu jalibert
The case of Matthieu Jalibert is more thorny.
At Twickenham, he chained a fifth consecutive tenure in the blue jersey.
And he has never disappointed, never missed out on his matches.
Except that, in the minds of the staff, Romain Ntamack is the number 1 choice and that he needs to play after two months of absence.
Before the Crunch, Laurent Labit, the coach of the French attack, recognized that with these two openers, he has the choice of the king.
“We are more than satisfied with Matthieu's performance.
As we had been to Romain before he was injured.
It's a great chance for the France team to have two players of this level in this position.
I believe that many nations envy us to have players of this quality, ”he confided.
The number 10 of the UBB takes things with serenity and perspective.
“Everything was not perfect in my game, he still has things to work out.
I came here with the idea of being in the continuity of what I had done since the autumn Nations Cup and the start of the Tournament, ”he said after the match.
And to detail his state of mind: “Play my game, be clean, make the team play and try to add a little touch to certain situations at the right time.
I came here freed and I didn't necessarily think about the competition.
As I said, we are two number 10s, we train hard to be able to play and whoever has the chance to play has to be the best possible for the France team.
I'm only trying to remember that. "
It will be time to think about the resumption of training in Marcoussis.
Shine and walk away in the shadows.
Not always easy to manage.
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