Finishing against England, Grand Slam at stake, was the objective from the start of this Tournament…
Fabien Galthié
.
To be honest and transparent, yes.
You have to be humble, stay in your place because there is still a game to play.
But we have done everything to be in this position.
Everything we did with clubs, club managers and players was to find ourselves in this position today.
This place is won between competitions, when there is none.
To discover
Ranking Tournament 6 of Nations
Calendar and results 6 Nations
Read alsoFrance-England D-2: return of Penaud, the Blues with their typical team
In what state of mind are you approaching the last few days?
We live these days with a lot of shared pleasure.
We must enjoy and live every moment that leads us to this meeting.
This Thursday afternoon, we will leave Marcoussis to reach our hotel (
in Saint-Cloud, editor's note
).
For two full days, work meetings scheduled to properly analyze this match.
We are very focused.
Is facing England an additional motivation?
There is a whole imagination around the Crunch, which was not yet called like that in my time.
The English invented rugby, their Federation has the most players with South Africa, it is a very strong, very rooted culture.
The North has only one rugby world champion: England.
The unfortunate finalist of the last World Cup was Eddie Jones' England.
Whatever one may say, she remains a giant of world rugby.
One of four, with France now…
"
Let's live in the present.
It will enlighten us for the future...
"
What do you think of the recent provocations by Eddie Jones, the English coach?
(
Slight smile
) Indeed… We hear.
We are very attentive to what our opponents say.
We take care to understand, it contributes to our preparation work.
But the date is Saturday night.
And we will be ready to respond.
There are nine Toulouse players on the match sheet, including six starters. Do you intend to rely on their experience of the finals, they who won the titles of champion of France and Europe last season?
It can be noted, yes, that they have won competitions recently.
Afterwards, an international match is very different from what you can experience in a club.
And then, there are no Toulouse, Bordeaux, Toulonnais… It's a team from France.
Who, with the experience of a third Six Nations Tournament, a 25th match in two and a half years, now has a lot of experience.
A collective experience that has made the players grow.
Our defeats have taught us a lot too.
We use it in the preparation.
Read alsoFrance-England D-3: “We would be the first to want to deprive the English of a Grand Slam at Twickenham …”, recognizes Alldritt
Has Antoine Dupont definitely won his captain's stripes during this Tournament?
Like the team, he makes a great competition.
With very different situations to manage because no match is like another in the Tournament.
It will be very different again on Saturday, already with the context… Antoine, like the team, was able to adapt, find the right answers to complex situations.
This first Tournament as captain is a great experience for him and for his teammates.
Let's live the present.
It will enlighten us for the future.
It's time to say a word about Charles Ollivon.
He resumed (
last Saturday with the RCT, nine months after his serious knee injury, editor's note
), he was good, he is back in the game...
Statements taken at a press conference
