The XV of France sank.
This Friday evening, for their first match of the 2024 Six Nations Tournament, the Blues completely foundered against an Irish team that was still as precise and efficient (17-38).
This is the second consecutive defeat for the Blues, who lost in the quarter-final of the World Cup against South Africa last October (28-29).
But the content of the meeting is undoubtedly at least as worrying as the final score.
Here are some figures that illustrate this debacle.
21
By losing by 21 points (17-38), the French suffered their heaviest defeat since the start of the Galthié era (January 2020).
Before this meeting, it was already against the XV of Clover that the Blues had cracked, during the last Six Nations Tournament, in Dublin (32-19).
But the gap was still less significant.
13
The offensive beginnings of the Blues are materialized by the number of balls lost during the game, 13, or twice as many as their opponents, who misplaced 7 ammunition.
8
If we put aside the two cards (one yellow and one red) for Paul Willemse, the XV of France had nevertheless shown discipline during this meeting with only eight penalties conceded, compared to 12 to the Irish.
7
The number of tackles missed by the two French hinge players Maxime Lucu (4) and Matthieu Jalibert (3) out of the 20 missed by the Blues.
The two Bordeaux players symbolize the defensive fragility of the French XV which suffered from the Irish waves.
The Clover XV had the ball 56% of the time.
5
Captain Grégory Alldritt's team conceded five tries during this meeting.
The first came in the 16th minute, via scrum half Jamison Gibson-Park.
The recital continued via Tadhg Beirne and Calvin Nash, before the two hookers, the holder Dan Sheehan and his replacement Ronan Kelleher, took advantage of two superb carried balls to secure the bonus and complete the work of the XV of the Clover.
Read alsoFrance-Ireland (17-38): Lucu overwhelmed, Gabrillagues floats… The notes of the Blues
4
This was one of the many black points of the evening: the French lineup, now led by Laurent Sempéré, who replaced Karim Ghezal on the staff, lost four balls on its own throws (14 out of 18), when the Irish touch achieved 100% on his own throws (13 out of 13).
The French scrum was efficient.
2
Paul Willemse became the second player in the history of the French XV to be sent off in a second match of the Tournament after Mohamed Haouas.
A similar mishap had already happened to Montpellier during a match against Wales in March 2021.
0
This defeat launches the Six Nations Tournament for the Blues in the worst possible way.
Without an offensive or defensive bonus, the French have no points.
The chances of final victory are already diminished.