ALL THE SIX NATIONS ACTION |
AFTER years of frustrations, a rejuvenated France are back among the top European nations after racking up three wins in a row in an exciting start to their Six Nations campaign.
Under head coach Fabien Galthie, who took over after the 2019 World Cup, Les Bleus have found new poise and with Shaun Edwards in charge of defence, they have become toughened up as Wales discovered in a 27-23 home defeat by the French on Saturday. “The way the others look at us has changed,” said flyhalf Romain Ntamack.
France claimed their first victory in Cardiff since 2010 after weathering the Welsh storm, notably during a 10-minute onslaught while they were down to 14 men before halftime.
“They were pounding the tryline at the end of the first half and we survived it, despite being down to 14 men. It felt great and it hurt them,” Ntamack said. “Yesterday’s game wiped out 10 years of collective frustrations,” team general manager Raphael Ibanez told reporters yesterday.
France started the tournament with a bang by beating World Cup runners-up England before snatching a routine win against Italy.
But Saturday’s match was the first big test for France, who last year wasted a 16-0 halftime lead against the Welsh in Paris and lost to them in the World Cup quarter-final by one point in Japan.
France are now able to sustain the pressure for 80 minutes or more.
“The players work hard, with humility,” Galthie said of his young squad, which includes only one player over 30. “They feel like they can play big games like this. We knew we were able to play with this intensity. After 11 training sessions and two games we knew we were capable to be competitive until the end of stoppage time.”
Looking towards the 2023 World Cup which France will host, Galthie is building a young squad and has been trusting exciting scrumhalf Antoine
Dupont and flyhalf Ntamack after his predecessors tinkered with their halfback pairings.
Dupont’s aggression and eye for space as well as Ntamack’s inspiration and fine kicking have inspired France, who are on course to win their first grand slam since 2010. They travel to Scotland before hosting Ireland in the 14 March super Saturday.
“We haven’t talked about the grand slam,” said Ntamack. “We’re focused on the next game. Obviously, if we beat Scotland, we’ll play a final against Ireland at the Stade de France.”
Meanwhile, England roared back into the Six Nations mix with another comprehensive demolition of Ireland yesterday as tries by George Ford, Elliot Daly and Luke Cowan-Dickie helped them to a 24-12 Twickenham victory in their best performance of the year.
Ford and Daly cashed in on Irish hesitancy when dealing with grubber kicks by Ben Youngs and Ford, while England’s ferocious tackling left Ireland, who had won their opening two matches, struggling to get any sort of foothold as they trailed 17-0 at halftime.
A Robbie Henshaw try gave the Irish a brief glimmer of hope but England hit back quickly as an unstoppable maul shoved Cowan-Dickie over. Andrew Porter scrambled over for Ireland at the death, but it was still a hugely important and dominant victory for Eddie Jones’s side.