Galthie is the tough taskmaster France have been needing
DURING the World Cup in 2003, I played against France and Fabien Galthie in a Scotland team which also featured Gregor Townsend at fly-half. Galthie was the captain of the French team at that time. He was a fiercely competitive scrum-half, tough as old boots, and you could see he was a coach in the making.
Townsend was much more of an off-the-cuff, maverick type of player and it will be fascinating to see them pit their wits against each other this afternoon.
It’s a meeting of two great rugby brains — but their styles look to be chalk and cheese in terms of how they go about things.
From my own time playing in France with Clermont, I heard plenty of stories about Galthie and what he was like to work with.
Let’s just say they weren’t always positive reviews.
During his time coaching
Stade Francais and Montpellier, I heard how he could be incredibly tough on his players at times.
Some of them pretty much hated him and his manmanagement style — but they also had a definite level of respect for him because of how good he was as a player.
That’s probably the key to how he has been able to turn around the fortunes of this French team in a relatively short space of time.
He’s not there to win friends. He is employed to win matches and, if all goes to plan for Les
Bleus over the next week, he’ll have clinched the Grand Slam at the first attempt.
Galthie gets results. He’s a tough taskmaster who doesn’t suffer fools gladly — but that’s exactly what France have been crying out for.
Someone with a strict, nasty edge to them who can whip them into shape and provide some structure to their game.
They have under-achieved for years. But, along with Shaun Edwards and Raphael Ibanez, Galthie has instilled a ruthless streak and hard edge to them.
They are not the same sort of flakey French teams we have seen in the past, who you always felt might implode at any moment.
This current crop of players look to be the real deal and trying to topple them represents the acid test of where this Scotland team are at right now.
If we play to our maximum capabilities, I fully believe we can win the game. If we’re not at the races, though, we could find ourselves on the end of a hiding.
Because, in Romain Ntamack and Antoine Dupont, France possess two world-class young half-backs who are capable of picking holes in any defence.
Ntamack and Dupont have arguably been the best two players in the Championship so far this year and together they represent the new golden age of French rugby.
Galthie’s bold selection policy of moving away from the old guard towards some supremely talented youngsters has paid off handsomely.
What he maybe lacks in man-management skills, he more than makes up for with an outstanding rugby brain and an understanding of how to play the game.
He has imparted that knowledge on Ntamack and, in particular, Dupont. You can see it in the way they have been running the show in the games so far.
I’ve also been really impressed with Damian Penaud, Virimi Vakatawa and Anthony Bouthier at full-back. France have talent all over the pitch.
But it’s the work that has gone on behind the scenes that has led them to this point. You can’t underestimate just how important Edwards and Ibanez have been.
There’s a connection there to Raphael which goes back years.
Edwards was coaching at Wasps when Ibanez was playing in a side which was dominating the Premiership and in Europe.
Edwards has built a reputation as the best defence coach in world rugby. He’s been there, seen it and done it in Test match rugby.
He has coached the British and Irish Lions and he has been part of multiple Grand Slam victories during his time with Warren Gatland and the Wales squad.
France won’t buckle this afternoon in the way they might have done in previous years. Edwards and Galthie simply won’t allow it to happen.
Scotland need to meet fire with fire. If we’re to have any chance of success, Jamie Ritchie and Hamish Watson will be key.
They need to do all they can to slow down the speed of the French ball because, if these youngsters get on the front foot, Dupont and Ntamack could cause us all sorts of pain.
This is a game we need to win. If we lose, then we’re heading to Cardiff next week staring down the barrel of just one win in the Championship.
The conditions will be far better than our last home game against England, so we must bring the fear factor back to BT Murrayfield.
It’s lost a bit of that fortress aura over the past year or so and I know Townsend and the players will be desperate to rectify that.
Stopping a French march to the Grand Slam dead in its tracks would go a long way to doing that and restoring some much-needed confidence.