XV of France: still a margin of error

Tension generates tension.

Friday night, on the lawn of the Stade de France, the Blues were not on their plate.

The mind confused by the objective.

To win the Tournament, they had to register four tries and win by a margin of 21 points against the Scots determined not to lend themselves to this unlikely scenario.

Be enterprising without exposing yourself too much, keep the ball a little more but not overplay, take advantage of the highlights without panicking during the weak ones.

In short, imperatives to make the most hardened of teams schizophrenic.

However, all to our pleasure to find a XV of France who no longer chain defeats, we have forgotten a little: this team has only fifteen months of existence.

For an individual experience, a collective experience that is still too tender to achieve this kind of perfect match.

The mission was too ambitious.

She turned to failure.

With, in the end, a defeat on the wire, 23 to 27. For a virtual certainty.

Without all these constraints, the Blues would have won the match.

So they lost it.

On one more hesitation.

Too much.

The forwards recover a hot balloon in their 22 meters.

Brice Dulin inherits it.

The stopwatch has just turned red.

He therefore only has to release in touch for a small success, 23 to 20. But the back of the XV of France, undoubtedly the best Blue in this tournament, procrastinates for a second.

Prefers to keep the ball despite the presence of three Scots in front of him.

Support arrives late.

Lost ball.

A long streak of three minutes from inside and the powerful winger of South African origin, Duhan Van der Merwe, scored his second try of the evening (his fifth overall to finish top scorer in the Tournament) to offer the victory to the his.

The first of Scotland in Paris since 1999.

Tension generates tension, we wrote in the preamble.

That of the players fed those of some supporters and other former players who did not fail to blame Brice Dulin for this suicidal action.

Easy from your sofa to point out a culprit.

Exaggerated especially.

If Fabien Galthié, without naming anyone, had also regretted "a lack of lucidity due to fatigue", his partners had taken care not to overwhelm their rear.

“There were lots of little grains of sand as the game went on.

That's what matters in the end.

It is this sum of small errors collectively that causes us to lose, not one action in particular, ”said Grégory Alldritt.

“Where we have to progress is in keeping the ball.

We must have good positions on the ruck, make an effort not to fall to the ground ”

Gaël Fickou

Guest of the “Canal Rugby Club” on Saturday evening, Gaël Fickou undoubtedly ended the debate on this episode.

"Everyone judges him on that, while he's a guy who has a great tournament," lamented the three-quarter center of the XV of France.

Before dismantling the argument.

“There are a lot of guys calling him to play that ball.

We are not aware on the pitch that the match is over, we do not look at the clock.

If he hits in touch, Brice might be thinking “I'm giving the Scots a 5-yard throw-in.” Any player can make this mistake.

On the other hand, where it is necessary to progress, it is in the conservation of the ball.

We must have good positions on the ruck, make an effort not to fall to the ground.

"

This perfectly sums up the current situation of the XV of France.

He replaced himself among the nations that matter (in Europe), but not above.

The proof with his defeats on the wire against the English (twice), this failure after the siren against Scotland, but also his victories of nothing against Wales (also twice) or in Ireland.

The Blues have returned to level (2nd in the Tournament behind Wales), and it is already a big step after ten years of scarcity.

They have to keep working to get over it.

Better and better master their game plan to dominate more widely and no longer be at the mercy of an end-of-game blunder.

For that, he still needs a little time.

Read also

• The notebook of the Blues in the tournament: Dulin, Alldritt and Marchand on the podium