Le Figaro.- Wasn't it too much soup with a grimace on Saturday night after the defeat?
Brice Dulin.-
No.
Precisely, we spent a few hours together on Saturday night to talk about the match and evacuate.
So that the alarm clock is a little lighter.
It felt good.
With hindsight, which feeling predominates?
We are aware that we have not come very far, that we have done good things.
We had the keys in hand to win.
The meeting was within our reach but we let it slip through some individual and collective errors.
It's far from being a match where we are dominated from start to finish, where we were powerless.
We tell ourselves that we are losing because of our little largesse, so it's still positive.
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Isn't it annoying, like last December, to lose again in the last minutes against the English?
The most annoying thing is losing a game because of our little mistakes.
We started it well but, in the last fifteen minutes, we came out of our camp less well, we exposed ourselves a little too much and we put the English back in the game.
Do you miss being more lucid in the pressure of the end of the match?
That's it.
For example, I made a small mistake with this penaltouche saved in its 22 meters by May (63rd).
We are less precise, we reverse the pressure less well than at the start of the match.
“
We reviewed the images of Itoje's test on the big screen.
And on an angle we can see that the ball is flattened
”
The vast majority of the Blues, affected by the Covid-19, had not played for a month. Did you pay it with more fatigue at the end of the game?
No.
We had a big week of training.
We were even slightly above our usual standards.
In terms of rhythm, we were there.
It is more in the management of the end of the match that we have to improve.
Take more time to fully understand the situations.
Sometimes the axis that manages the tempo of the game has to step on the ball.
It is more on some of our decisions than on the pace that we do not impose ourselves.
Is the desire and defensive solidarity displayed by the players the answer to the fears of a French team undermined and disunited by this health crisis?
I know these are things that are being said, but I can assure you that the band gets along really well.
In all transparency, we have always been very happy to meet again.
For us, there was no problem going through this period.
What saddens us the most is this little hitch ...
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Is there a controversy over the arbitration award granting the English try in the 76th minute?
Not at all.
We reviewed the images on the big screen.
And on an angle we can see that the ball is flattened.
You have two games left to play. It is therefore a question of digesting this defeat as quickly as possible.
That's why we traded for a long time on Saturday night.
The goal was to become aware of our mistakes, to evacuate the disappointment and to switch without delay on the continuation.
To focus on the positive.
Victory in the Tournament is still countable.
We must therefore quickly start over with something catchy.
We still have a high goal, a title to seek.
And we always have our destiny in hand: it involves two victories.
We will have to move to reach it.
"
Faced with the Welsh, who come to complete the Grand Slam, the challenge is enormous for us
"
Next Saturday (9 p.m.), the challenge promises to be met with the reception at the Stade de France of Gallois in contention for the Grand Slam.
The Welsh have grown in strength over the Tournament.
And they come with full confidence to win the Grand Slam.
It's going to be a huge challenge for us.
We know what they are aiming for, we know what we are aiming for.
Both teams have something to gain, it's fun.
Would winning the Tournament be a real consolation prize?
Of course !
Winning a competition is always the goal.
And, for years, it was complicated… What has been created over the past year and a half is exceptional.
It's up to us to continue to work, to progress, to gain experience for what we experienced on Saturday does not happen again.
Or very little.
So that we are at least always able to win our matches.
Fabien Galthié believes that this match will make the France team grow.
Totally.
Defeats also change.
We accumulate common experiences on the good times, but also on the more complicated times.
This is what will help us to better anticipate, manage and control our next matches.
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