When a recipe works, you might as well replicate it.
Netflix has understood this well and, since “Formula 1”, the immersion series behind the scenes of F1, the streaming platform has multiplied its forays into the world of sport.
Latest: rugby, and its legendary Six Nations Tournament.
“Au contact” (“Full contact” for the original title) is available since Wednesday on Netflix.
10 days before the 2024 edition of the oldest rugby competition in the world, which begins this Friday February 2 in Marseille with the long-awaited clash between the XV of France and Ireland.
We watched the 8 40-minute episodes of this documentary saga on the 2023 Six Nations Tournament. One year after the competition, no surprise in the last episode: Ireland won the Grand Slam, ahead of France, and the 'Italy the wooden spoon.
No surprises either on the staging of the series, pure Netflix: voice-over comments, shocking sequences with sound effects alternating with interviews with players, coaches or consultants, dramatization of certain issues, a certain freedom with the exact chronology of the facts, and a huge waste of resources.
From the creators of F1: Drive to Survive, Six Nations: Full Contact is now streaming.
Watch the best rugby teams in Europe battle it out to take home the trophy in the 2023 Guinness Six Nations Championship.
pic.twitter.com/gj6cdemMie
— Netflix (@netflix) January 24, 2024
Violence and bad words
Hence the bias that we could also expect: no question of going into detail about the complex rules of rugby, or the technical-tactical debates.
The series targets a wider audience than the circle of connoisseurs.
From the outset, “In Contact” therefore emphasizes the brutality of rugby, the violence of its shocks, its most impressive side.
“It’s beastly,” says the voiceover.
One of the very first images is of Irish prop Andrew Porter talking about his cauliflower ears.
The stage is set.
On the analysis side, rest assured: each match is the most important (until the next), each opponent is the most formidable (until the next), and you must never lose of course.
All balanced with an ultra-warlike vocabulary and a slew of swear words in the mouths of coaches and players.
At least, Netflix, by following the teams as closely as possible, was able to make them forget a little about political correctness.
Discovering behind the scenes is part of the charm of this series which is quite easy to enjoy.
In addition to the beautiful images to set the scene, based on aerial views of the stadiums or training camps, and some new and spectacular sequences during the matches (we sometimes have the impression of being on the pitch with the players), we especially retains certain confessional interviews.
The good customer that is Finn Russell, number 10 of Scotland, was delighted from the first episode, comparing himself to Léo Messi in a sequence which is already creating a buzz, or opening up with frankness about the tensions with his coach Greg Townsend.
This is for the smile part.
“Kinda Like Messi…” ⚽️#SixNationsFullContact pic.twitter.com/5MHv9jnCjL
— Guinness Men's Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) January 24, 2024
The touching stories of Porter, Genge or Negri
For the more dramatic side, we discover, in the 3rd episode, the touching confession of Andrew Porter, the Irish left pillar who lost his mother when he was 12 years old, cries when thinking of her during the hymns, confides in his youthful doubts and freely admits to having suffered from mental problems.
In the second episode, another left pillar, English this time, Ellis Genge, takes the Netflix teams to the city of his childhood and recounts his difficult years, on the verge of delinquency, before being saved by rugby which allowed him to “stop blaming the whole earth”.
In this episode we also meet the Italian third row Sebastian Negri, whom Ellis Genge had saved the previous year when he was swallowing his tongue after a knockout.
in the field, and who confides in the concerns of those close to him and his childhood disrupted by the war in Zimbabwe, his country of birth.
Other great stories: Welsh winger Louis Rees-Zammit and Italian scrum-half Stephen Varney, of Welsh origin, who shared the same high school, meet up in the 6th episode, for a pool table a few days before their clash in the field.
Or the fight of Scottish fullback Stuart Hogg against his “broken body” to snatch his 100th selection before bowing out, injured once again, in the 7th episode, “Last Dance”.
But if you swear by the XV of France, go to the 5th episode instead.
The Blues' matches against Scotland and then in England are analyzed there.
We discover that the faces of Marchand, Alldritt and Fickou were projected on the big screen with targets on their heads in the Hôtel des Écossais… “Burst them, with your fucking teeth”, we hear in the locker room of the XV of the Thistle.
The final word for Fabien Galthié
On the Blue side, the speakers are Fabien Galthié, Antoine Dupont, the English coach of the French defense Shaun Edwards, and especially Gaël Fickou.
The three-quarter center talks about his youth in La Seyne-sur-Mer (Var) and the pain of the sudden death of his mother, when he had just made his breakthrough with the Blues.
We also discover moving photos from his childhood.
And this confession about a certain weariness that can grip him: “Sometimes I would prefer to go home, to have days off.
International rugby is full of small sacrifices.
»
At half-time of the historic exploit of the Blues at Twickenham (53-10), the Netflix cameras captured the instructive exchanges between the English captain Ellis Genge and the referee, a certain Ben O'Keefe, who will be less lucky to the French a few months later in the World Cup.
A world strangely absent from the entire documentary.
The prospect of this competition, although on everyone's minds last winter, is never mentioned in any episode.
We even believe that Jonathan Sexton will end his career with Ireland at this Grand Slam, while he will also play in the World Cup.
A choice to better anchor the story on this Six Nations alone, which ends with images of the French, Fabien Galthié, Bastien Chalureau and the former president of the Stade Français Max Guazzini in particular, disappointed in the locker rooms of the Stade de France while attending the Irish Grand Slam.
The final word goes to the coach of the Blues, whose esoteric jargon seemed to please the directors.
Which are already scheduled for next year for a season two.