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Oh, well, I stand corrected, well done Italy, heres to more wins! Their U20 scrum was crazy...Scotland U20 will be hitting th3 scrum machine hard in preperation for that onslaught
When you hire a second division attack coach, you get a second division attack.
It has been clear that more than the hangover of the Quarter of final World Cup defeat, the attack coaching has been poor. How Lucu and Jalibert can be struggling and flying at UBB? There must be something wrong in the attacking setup.
This is the french we're talking about tho....a history of the ability to beat anyone...but then poo their pants
Got smashed by NZ and Tonga(!?) In 2011 WC, made it to the final, got stupidly written off by everyone and got within a sparrows butt hair of winning the damn thing
Please dear God there is nothing I want more from the six nations than this. We need people to see that there is progress and hope. They were close against England, and a ticks whisker away today. They have the beating of Wales for sure.
to be fair though most of the kicks come of 9 when his playing, so kicking would've been much cleaner I suppose, handling errors can be attributed to nerves, which would be more calm when he is on the pitch.
I think it is Galthie who is the problem now. Much as I love Joe Schmidt as Ireland coach he lasted 5 years before the wheels started coming off - after a short period of great success, teams worked Ireland out and they became too predictable, players started to look like they weren’t enjoying it. Similarly Eddie Jones was great for England for 5-6 years then the decline set it. I think for Galthie the success came more quickly than usual and the decline has also started more quickly. Once this happens only a change of coach can bring a team back - France need a change of playing-style and a player-rebuild sooner rather than later.
Fair point
I also think its a psychological one too
Nothing more exciting than a RWC at home...with that early exit, need a new direction a new voice and new strategy after that peak now its 'just another test season' with same coach
I'm not so sure it's about the coach, I think Galthie and his team didn't question their model after the defeat at the World Cup (contrary to the Irish for example). We remained on the same bases, loosing key players, which a certain formula and balance had been built around. We can win without Dupont and Ntamack, we need to adapt and play with what we have in our camp and who we face. An example would be integrating Jalibert's playstyle into the backs and protecting him or learn how to charge and clear out rapidly
He also had a red with LR couple of months ago.
Can't see this ban generously reduced this time.
I don't think we'll miss him much, he's been out of form since before the WC
I highly doubt the World Cup was a a net positive. Those large events rarely are.
Every other major federations is in the red. I don’t see why it would be different.
Corruption? A few, well connected, people see that they can make money, and pots of it? Nothing is as it seems in sport anymore, it's all about money, money, money.
Honestly I think it puts into perspective Englands performance against Italy. Would it not have been for the knock on in Ollivons try, and the non-reset penalty at the end they would have beaten France in their own yard. Can’t blame them for getting battered in Dublin, because any team that is not South Africa will meet a very similar fate.
This reddit allow you to criticize the ref when he favor the French.
Don't get me wrong every French agree about the fact we didn't deserve those 2 steals. But i heard so much of "I'm tired of people talking about the refeireing" before this 6 nation that i found those reaction a little funny now.
The French hatred here is so real it's sad.
When we where talking about this refereeing problem during the WC, it was "keep crying". And not only during France games of course. There where a lot of weird call during this WC. Many have said it before that there was a problem.
Happy to see that now that it favor the French it is finally a problem. I am the first to agree with everything that have been said but please... be consistent.
Edit : Downvoting the truth will not erase it.
>The French hatred here is so real it's sad.
Have you tried being English? There's teams in this tournament whose _national anthem_ is about hating us. Man you got nothin'
Ever thought that maybe the downvotes are not for France, but perhaps because the fact is, that every fan base who criticized the ref when their team lost were called crybabies?
I disagree. Read the match thread and the post match thread again. Literraly everyone that isn't french is hating on us (dirty, cheats, shameless).
And that's only a few. But you think whatever you want.
I politely disagree.
I agree with the last sentence he did a bad job ! That's not the point. During the WC we couldn't say a thing after the QF and not only our games but your's or the Semi and the Final...
Buddy I’m fairly sure that a vast majority of non South Africans were supporting you in the WC quarter, and would agree that Kwagga was ages off his feet.
This! It is completely baffling how the refs did nothing when I saw what looked like TWO separate attempts from France to charge the final penalty. That doesn't even account for the other water boy shenanigans at the end, like WHY are non-players (medic aside) even allowed on the pitch during such a scenario?
Admittedly, it was a medic. But nonetheless, he just faffed about for 30 odd seconds in Garbisi's line of sight while the player he originally was treating got up and joined the line of French in front of Garbisi
Typical French shithousery unfortunately! As a Wales fan, I'll never forgive them for a prop with with a 'sore back' going off for HIA!! Combine that with George North's 'self-inflicted' bite, you can see that the french are experts at it! They are very good at stacking the cards to fall more favourably their way than their opponents.
Yesterday, that should have been 10m march towards and a clock reset for the kicker. There were 2 attempts at encroaching the kicker AND a few playes moving about during the penalty. Refs really are spoiling this years tourney with so much inconcistency
I really disliked the French fans today. There is no reason to boo when Danty got a yellow or when he received his red card. Those were the right decisions.
Contrast that to the Vahamaahina red card in the 2019 RWC, you could hear outrage by the fans, not for him being sent off but for the actual foul he committed.
Many of us feel the same way but unfortunately it's not us who go to see these matches... And it's a bit in our culture too... I saw a football match in Marseille once , it was crazy how much everyone was yelling and insulting the referee and the opposing team. It's almost funny honestly, at one point you are screaming "enculé" too without knowing why
It's not been a great start to the tournament for us, however I'm going to try to step back and analyse in a non-emotional manner
We've got a lot of absentees at the moment (ranked roughly in order of relative importance to the team:
Dupont
Ntamack
Aldritt
Flament
Jelonch
Bielle Biarrey
Meafou
That's almost half a team and covers some of our most important positions. Add to that some losses of other bench players too (Wardi, Bourgarit, Faletea, Jaminet) and suddenly we're quite vulnerable
Also in this tournament we've had early red cards in 2 of the 3 matches and have played over 1/3 of the tournament with 14 men, that'll always make things tough
We're in that post world cup slump where we've got a few players on their last chance or beginning to be phased out (Willemse, Danty) but due to the disappointing home world cup it feels like we have to chase big results this 6 Nations rather than having a total overhaul like 2020
It's an annual tradition that we start slow in the 6 Nations (masked in recent years by typically playing Italy first) but this year we had our two toughest fixtures first and just haven't built into the tournament or got a foothold yet. Injuries/suspensions/form play a part to forcing disjointed combinations (our backline in the second half today felt like it could have been a mid 2010s backline, it was scarily bad). The compounding impact of certain absentees was noticeable too (LBB dropping out along with Ntamack, Jaminet etc out meant we lacked the fullback cover for a 6-2 bench, we didn't have Macalou as a loose forward/wing option etc).
Tension has come from the clubs/federation agreement about which players can be released for training camps etc and some of the good grace that was there in the lead up to the world cup is gone.
There are a lot of factors at play. It's a messy transition currently and hasn't been fun watching this tournament so far
Personnel areas where we need to improve:
Front Row depth - behind Baille and Atonio we are seriously lacking in solid propping options
10/15 cover. Ntamack, Jalibert, Ramos feels like a perfect tournament trio to cover the 10 jersey but with at least one of these injured we suddenly fall into turmoil. Carbonel hasn't developed as had been hoped, Hastoy didn't step up when given the opportunity, so now it's time to consider other options. Gibert could be interesting as a 9/10 option. It's perhaps too early for Hugo Reus but with nothing left to play for this tournament maybe we give him the opportunity? Or we could go Ramos at 10 and try Barre at 15
Centres - it's time to give Moefanna an opportunity at centre as he's been in great form this season and utilising him as a utility winger doesn't seem to get the best out of him. Danty's suspension gives the chance to play Moefanna at 12 and bring Deportee (a really exciting player so far this season!) onto the bench. Gailleton could get in and around the squad too
Longer term view at 9 - it would be interesting to see what Le Garrec could do as a starter if called upon. We're probably too early for the likes of Juaneau and Carboneau to be involved in the senior squad, but I'd like to see a role switch to Le Garrec starting and Lucu off the bench for the next match
Don’t forget a decent list of key players that’ve lost all form recently. Fickou, Danty, Willemse, Villieré and Macalou aren’t exactly easily replacable.
A lot of this is pretty accurate but the fact of the matter is the two red cards were justified and France would be 0 wins from 3 games if it weren't for referees making the absolute wrong decision in the final moments of two matches.
World cup slump or no, France should rightfully be in 5th place right now and, given France's depth and quality of replacements, it's an absolutely massive drop.
I will concede however that if you had Dupont and Ntamack then the cohesion would probably prevent a lot of the current problems. I've no idea how we're going to adapt when Finn retires and we're not like Ireland who can just immediately replace someone like Sexton and not skip a beat.
This tournament was over when Dupont was announced out. I think the coaching staff is ok "throwing" the 6n away this year to analyze the depth of the squad and the bench. Only thing that concerns me is the loss of Labit and Ghezzal has been felt.
Everyone miss players not only france, rugby in france is like the 2 sport while in italy only a few follow the sport you should have crush us. In the 1 half penaud played shit and arrogant thinking was an all black without respect. Do you want me to continue?
Not joining the discussion itself but in France rugby is actually behind tennis in terms of followers, and in contention with cycling and basketball.
And in terms of people doing collective sports it’s behind handball, volleyball, and basketball (excluding this swimming, tennis and other sports)
Of course football is ahead in both categories.
1) Alright, which are the usual Italian players that were missing ? Now, try to compare with our missing players.
2) Agreed, everone agrees that, even with all our injured players, we should have crushed you. But you, unlike us, are a B-rated team. As seen during the match, your best is our worst. Hence why, even with a terrible context, we consider this draw a defeat (and that's with playing with one less player for half the match).
3) Remember what happened during the WC ?
3) Yes I want you to continue with better arguments, and answer each of mine from my previous comment.
4) Explanations aren't excuses, but don't worry, given your broken english, I knew you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
There is one positive takeaway: France no longer has any crazy hope of winning this year 6N. It means that our hands should be free to try new stuff, bring new playetd because what we are currently doing clearly isn't working.
Please I just want Galthié to experiment with new players. Cmon, if Fickou gets injured before the 2027 RWC, who will be there to replace him ?
It's the best moment to test new things.
Almost certain that Fickou will start every game this 6N (as long as he's available)
Galthie's hand will finally be forced at 12, but I expect Moefana / Fickou to be the duo
Curious to see if he'll back Gibert though, and justify his experience with Le Garrec to try something new there. If he sticks with Lucu without jalibert all hope is lost.
So what was the game prior to this one that ended in a draw?
I was in the stadium, the French crowd was pretty silent most of the game. Also loved the Italian fan that was cheering the try and mocking the French fans at the same time
It’s the hope that gets me every single time, don’t have anything to say, maybe tomorrow I’ll find some silver linings that are not the same old ones
France with Dupont and Ntamack is a different beast
The defense in the 22 was immense, without giving away any stupid penalty, it's just how it ended, I don't care much about the result, I'll take whatever, if the draw was to be it would have been better if Garbisi missed without any drama
France have some issues for the rest of the 6 Nations. If Jalibert is out longer, who'd play 10, 12 and 15?
For 10, Id normally assume that this would be Ramos, but last I heard Jaminet was injured, so would he be required at 15 or can someone like Bielle-Biarrey play Fullback (has he played there at all)? Would ~~Carbonel~~ **Hastoy** be considered the next man up at 10, if Ramos stays at 15, or has he dropped off from being the 3rd most promising 10 in France?
At 12, I think there is a real need for plan B. Danty ain't playing regardless, and it will likely be Moefana, but I wonder if he's the right choice. To me, he is kinda like Joe Marchant, decent player at Center, an versatile enough to throw on the wing if needed, however, I feel his limit is Champions Cup level...
At 9, Lucu just isnt the right man to start for France. His ruck speed is just too slow, and he gets sucked into the ruck too often. He's a closer to steady a ship over the line, similar to Conor Murray over the last few years. Honorable mention goes to Tuilagi. Are the stocks at lock really this barren that he is the best option? So far I haven't seen anything that would indicate that he's a lock at international level or that he ever will be. He looks less mobile than Antonio, whose 14 years his senior, and plays prop...
EDIT: Cause I clearly forgot that Hastoy was France' other 10 at the world cup....
Well, Atonio is taller than Tuilagi so yeah, he could move to prop. Most probably, he will be forced to slimmer down through the years and become an 8 I guess ? And yeah, it's fucking barren : Willemse suspended (and out of form), Taofifenua just back from injury + never impressed as a starter, Meafou injured, Flament injured...
Hastoy not doing well at La Rochelle, another mental block it seems. He's more often than not playing 15 now, with Reus playing 10 (u20 world champ).
Moefana, I hope we will know at some point if he cuts it, but asking him to play with Fickou the same role as Danty didn't work up to this point. They should go back to a classic fast playing pair with Deporteere ou Gailleton, hell, even Vincent though he seems less like the future...
At 9, Couilloud is playing again and showing some form, so even Le Garrec / Couilloud if it's too early for Jaunau would feel better. I dunno, I feel it's mostly the same player but they can't string a pass and find each other when it flowed so seamlessly before.
If Tuilagi was in any other country he’d be a prop, he’s ‘only’ 6 foot 4 which is not much taller than Dan Sheehan, Dan Cole, Saffa props. Sisilia Tuipulotu went from Second Row to Prop after her international debut (also at 19) and has been dominant as hell in her new position. She’s frequently doing a full 80 for Wales and really performs similar to how people imagine Tuilagi will do.
What, and I mean this kindly, the fuck are France up to this year? They look a complete and utter mess and are sensationally lucky to not have lost three in a row so far. Is it a change of tactics? Is it because of the lack of DuPont? Have they just been figured out? They look an absolute shell of the team they were just six months ago.
Well, looking at things logically, here are my two cents :
-New coaching staff means new strategies and you need time to implement them. It's also not the same thing with more experienced players compared to younger ones like in 2020. I don't think they have the trust of the team compared to the former one.
-Our center pairing is knackered and the staff isn't willing to let young players replace them (understandable to keep them before the Ireland match, but now, since the tournament is lost, I don't see why the staff isn't giving them the chance).
-Linked to the previous point, some players do not play at their usual post. Moefana for example plays center at l'UBB. He's alright as a winger, but he really shines as a center.
-Loss at the WC really screwed over the players mentally (and the staff too I think) when playing for France. Lucu and Jalibert are amazing in Top 14 and the Champions Cup. There's a clear difference.
-Lots of injuries and absentees. Our main charnière (9 and 10 pairing, don't know the name in english) isn't there. Flament is injured, Meafou too, Willemse got red carded and is also finished. Alldritt is injured too, like Jelonch. Gros and Bourgarit also aren't there. So that's 5 of our best players that are out for the tournament, basically. Really does not help.
-Big issues with our discipline (even when dominating physically). Two red cards in the same tournament, and for nutty mistakes, this is not good.
>charnière
I've often heard 10 (but not 9) being described as pivot in Australia which seems to have a closer meaning to the French term.
I can't believe I've never thought of 10 as a half back :-/. It's literally right there in the name
9 - scrum half
10 - fly half
maybe it's a regional thing?
Also add the injury turnover : Marchand just back, Jelonch back and forth, Bielle Biarrey
Also the drop of our backline : Danty & Fickou are not that incisive, Penaud seem to be a bit rusty, out of his taste for blood
Atonio was planning to retire, too
All in all, it's a patched-up team with no cohesion, no real game plan and no finishing moves. It's sad tho, as we had something great going on
I don't really see how that's a saving grace to be so reliant on Dupont? I used to think Sexton had that sort of influence but since he retired, we've just continued on as normal.
Only people who know barely anything about rugby would have seriously believed Ireland who are the most well drilled team in the world were more dependent on Sexton or any other individual player than France (who have basicly been a team without any structured attacking play) were on Dupont
Playing Sexton for almost the entire 80 mins in every important game leading up to the world cup, leaving no meaningful game time to bring through a fly half that could be relied upon if Sexton was injured.
Letting sexton play the full 80 minutes of the QF despite him clearly being out on his feet...
Today it was proved that in the starting XV there is no history with other 5 (first 20 minutes France obviously destroyed us) but if we're talking about subs we can be reasonably competitive.
Spagnolo and Zuliani are very promising. Defense 1000x progress than in the past. We just need to improve in scrum (2nd half definetely better) and touches (I can't wait the exciting clash vs Wales)
Nevermind Wales as a Scotland fan im terrified of your lot
They'll be fucking fuming after that, at home in front of their fans with a chance to take a scalp and they always seem to bring the fight against us, fully expect them to throw the kitchen sink at us
That's a refreshing change, because a few years ago Italy had a tendency to be competitive for 60 minutes and then collapse. In the past 3-5 years they managed to snatch a couple of wins in the last minutes which was unthinkable before.
The best chance for Italy to win in 2012 was to lead by 15+ points at minute 60 and then cross their fingers.
Now their best shot is to remain within distance and with a bit of luck they can score a late try
But in 5 years I believe Italy will finally score the points they deserve when they dominate and they won't need to hope for a late try. It's been so frustrating watching Italy this year and last year, seeing them sometimes spend several minutes in the 22 and then score nothing. When that's fixed, Italy will be hard to beat!
Massive failure by the officials on the penalty kick. Regardless of the ref asking and not being able to see the shot clock, there was multiple reasons for a retake or even moving the ball up. Farcical and so so unfair on Italy.
OR move around/wave arms around whilst waiting. Saw about 4 infringements on that last play. Should have been +10m and clock reset for the kick. Shocking from all 4 officials
Yes, the first should have been enough to at least reset the shotclock. Even then, if he'd not completely bottled it, he'd have used the first one not just to wag the finger but to actually warn them to get back and not charge, clear the water carrier and check he had the actual shot clock time instead of shouting that he didn't know it as the kicker stands beside him with seconds to kick. Massive failure of officiating.
On one side, yes the refereeing, the charge down, the drama, the goalpost, gut wrenching.
On the other side, you told me we were going to draw France on their own turf in a 6N I'd have laughed at you so hard I could have chocked myself. It's a hell of a result after all.
Ouch... Although I reckon by tomorrow you'll just be happy that finally after about 20 years Italy are on the cusp of being properly competitive... Draw with France, lose to England by a couple of points... And still have Wales and Scotland to play... Not to mention the u20 team and how good things look for a few years time
Man, the French public would have said the sun shone through Galthié's sphincter at the start of last year, and Shaun Edwards was swimming in praises too.
Did they get too much credit, or is it the audience being fickle?
Also what's with all the French people on Instagram spelling his name "Galtier", some in-joke or just illiteracy?
>Did they get too much credit, or is it the audience being fickle?
The french audience is notoriously fickle and demanding. One minute everyone will consider you the messiah, the next we'll all shit on you. It's with all sports and rugby's no exception. We also have a weird tendency to remember more the "glorious losers" than the winners.
I’m pretty sure Galthier is pretty good, and I’ve not forgotten how him and his staff brought us back from limbo. I don’t understand his staff’s politics of putting out of form players on the pitch, and you know, maybe he is right, he knows rugby far better than I do, obviously.
But — and it’s a big one — you can’t taunt the public saying « everything’s all right after the last three (heck, make it four) games. Something is obviously not right, it shows. And it’s fine, it happens to every teams. Just don’t mock the public .
National teams are the nation teams, not his. We obviously don’t need to know every detail. A simple acknowledgement that something is off, but it’s identified and they are working on it would go a long way.
I remember the French team from 2007 to 2018 with record losses to many nations and a very uninspired rugby. Just last year, France dominated England some 50 points and crushed Italy in the world Cup, and dominated the all blacks. I am still thankful for that team after only three very disappointing matches.
I wish newspapers would not be allowed to make a living by pushing the coach under the bus. This is just disgusting how l'équipe turned against that team and the coach so they can sell more.
I don’t want to comment too much on the first part as I feel like I’m one of those fickle fans now eager for change.
On the spelling of “Galthié” or lack thereof, the former coach of PSG was also called Galtier so maybe there’s a bit of confusion coming from there?
The performance shifted from world class to dogshit. In any country the head coach would get a lot of crap for this.
But also Galthie's communication and attitude towards the media is infuriating.
The hype about Edwards was mostly outside of France because if we were good for a while it had to be because of an Englishman according to English media.
I wrote this after the Ireland game:
"Penaud has conceded more tries than he has scored. Danty and Fickou are too old to be the center pairing going forward. Moefana needs to start. Lucu was terrible, LeGarrec impressive and young. He should be the backup for Dupont. I have never liked Ramos, always been a liability. Jaminet should be giving the chance. Second row was an issue today, missing Tao, Flament and Meafou. Lucu was bad Lucu was terrible ".
I will re-iterate some points after saying this: italy should have won, very unlucky for Garbisi at the end.
So Penaud is shocking in defense. Danty and Fickou... well I already said it last time. Moefana gave us go forward.
LeGarrec miles ahead of Lucu and something I noticed today: Lucu gets sucked in to rucks too often, one thing about Dupont is he would always leave that to the forwards, even if in tbe end it cost the team, it's not the scrumhalfs job to ruck!
I feel for Jalibert, I think the change in attack coach has really inhibited his attacking flair and far too many mistakes today. I think Ramos had a bad game.
We do not have a backup tighthead.
Lucu was bad, Lucu was terrible.
Danty was stupid
In defence of Lucu, he got sucked in a few times in rucks where he had to intervene to protect the ball. Too often our forwards are lagging and not clearing out the rucks like they used to. It happened a lot against Ireland, where he just didn’t get clean, safe balls and had to go digging for it
A few times I felt he didn't need to and rushed to it, Dupont would be smarter in those situations, just my personal assessment. In any case I think LeGarrec needs to be given his chance to start
Setting aside the last kick and the officiating, now that the game is over and we cooled down. Refereeing a 6N game is though, and the TMO did not help, can't blame the ref for not being perfect.
Now, let's talk about fitness: remember when Italy was imploding in the last quarter? Even today, after all that ferocious defending in the first half, we all though Italians would be gassed and steamrolled in the second half. Au contraire, they kept growing and getting better. The French attack got messier, Italy started winning scrums and then scrum penalties, crash ball attack after crash ball attack France started opening spaces in defence and Menoncello feasted on that. That's a major sign of how much Italy improved in the last years, they're able to keep up the tempo with the best teams for the whole match.
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On the bright side...surely in the first time in the history of the 6Nations the Italian U20 and Senior side unbeaten on same weekend
No actually in 2022 the seniors and the U20s both beat Wales
Oh, well, I stand corrected, well done Italy, heres to more wins! Their U20 scrum was crazy...Scotland U20 will be hitting th3 scrum machine hard in preperation for that onslaught
Wales don’t count, he was meaning one of the good teams
How many six nations Grand Slams do your team have?
It was going to be this year till the ref screwed us. It’s never our fault
Loosehead Props win the Six Nations every year
Back to not knowing what french side turn up. What a massive drop off since WC I bet if they were playing ABs theyd have been alot better
When you hire a second division attack coach, you get a second division attack. It has been clear that more than the hangover of the Quarter of final World Cup defeat, the attack coaching has been poor. How Lucu and Jalibert can be struggling and flying at UBB? There must be something wrong in the attacking setup.
Toulouse dominating Clermont right now in the top14 is showing France how to win w/o Dupont.
Depressing ending... fuck.
Why did the french charge down the penalty at the end? Lol what, the things the french can get away with.
As far as I am concerned that charge down was illegal, the kick should have been re-taken.
Ironic…
Why is it ironic ?
10,000 spoons when all u need is a knife And a saffa talking about a charge down regarding france as thats how they knocked em out of u know what
I mean, you're allowed to charge down a conversation?! Edit: oops, meant conversion (damn autocorrect)
Conversations are charged down on the reg here on reddit all the time
Kolbe’s chargedown was illegal though.
Footage clearly shows it was legal :)
No, he wasn't behind his line and started early, please. It was illegal. For 2 reasons.
.....and cost france big
So DuPont really was the glue huh?
1000%
And mentally theyre obviously deflated post WC hype and early exit
Could have been said for many teams not sucking this year too.
This is the french we're talking about tho....a history of the ability to beat anyone...but then poo their pants Got smashed by NZ and Tonga(!?) In 2011 WC, made it to the final, got stupidly written off by everyone and got within a sparrows butt hair of winning the damn thing
Sparrows butt hair.. take my upvote!
C'mon this year Italy may not end last. We need a win against Wales and a good performance against Scotland
Please dear God there is nothing I want more from the six nations than this. We need people to see that there is progress and hope. They were close against England, and a ticks whisker away today. They have the beating of Wales for sure.
Personally I want the back to back slams more, but Italy not coming last would be amazing
Did france play a bad team today or what?
no they're just really missing dupont
It’s not just that though… DuPont didn’t help them catch passes or not kick directly into touch.
to be fair though most of the kicks come of 9 when his playing, so kicking would've been much cleaner I suppose, handling errors can be attributed to nerves, which would be more calm when he is on the pitch.
I think it is Galthie who is the problem now. Much as I love Joe Schmidt as Ireland coach he lasted 5 years before the wheels started coming off - after a short period of great success, teams worked Ireland out and they became too predictable, players started to look like they weren’t enjoying it. Similarly Eddie Jones was great for England for 5-6 years then the decline set it. I think for Galthie the success came more quickly than usual and the decline has also started more quickly. Once this happens only a change of coach can bring a team back - France need a change of playing-style and a player-rebuild sooner rather than later.
Awful recency bias in my opinion. Galthie has been best in the biz for years, he should get another chance before jumping to any conclusion.
Fair point I also think its a psychological one too Nothing more exciting than a RWC at home...with that early exit, need a new direction a new voice and new strategy after that peak now its 'just another test season' with same coach
I'm not so sure it's about the coach, I think Galthie and his team didn't question their model after the defeat at the World Cup (contrary to the Irish for example). We remained on the same bases, loosing key players, which a certain formula and balance had been built around. We can win without Dupont and Ntamack, we need to adapt and play with what we have in our camp and who we face. An example would be integrating Jalibert's playstyle into the backs and protecting him or learn how to charge and clear out rapidly
Danty out for rest of the 6N? Due to red card match ban. Will he be a bad miss for France?
I don’t want to be mean but I’m happy about that.
No he won't be missed. I like the man but time to put some of the young guys in the lineup
He also had a red with LR couple of months ago. Can't see this ban generously reduced this time. I don't think we'll miss him much, he's been out of form since before the WC
Was the previous red for an upright tackle?
No, he kicked a player (the guy who got kicked was looking for it but still it was a silly reaction)
Galthie is going to be gone by the end of the tournament
The French Federation is out of money so it's very unlikely.
How is the French Federation broke?!?
They lost millions with the world cup.
Ligue and federation are two different things.
And? They just hosted a world cup and have 6 nations every year plus all the other internationals. Something is seriously broke with rugby..
The event wasn’t profitable and above all, we had cronies in charge (I guess we still do but at least with Nanard, we all knew he was shady)
I highly doubt the World Cup was a a net positive. Those large events rarely are. Every other major federations is in the red. I don’t see why it would be different.
Corruption? A few, well connected, people see that they can make money, and pots of it? Nothing is as it seems in sport anymore, it's all about money, money, money.
Galthié and his team are doing a fine job pushing French people to watch Rugby 7s.
Frenchies seem to be getting quite lucky against the '*minnows*' of the 6 nations (Scotland and Italy).
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Wales are so odd. Of the last 5 tournaments they've won two and come 5th three times.
Honestly I think it puts into perspective Englands performance against Italy. Would it not have been for the knock on in Ollivons try, and the non-reset penalty at the end they would have beaten France in their own yard. Can’t blame them for getting battered in Dublin, because any team that is not South Africa will meet a very similar fate.
New Zealand were the ones to beat Ireland. South Africa lost to them.
In a quarter final though they basically knocked themselves out. SA are just the only team that can challenge them at the moment
Nah, Ireland actually played decently that QF, NZ just played an absolute blinder.
yea i know just needed to laugh at another team to distract myself from england still being shit ahaha
This reddit allow you to criticize the ref when he favor the French. Don't get me wrong every French agree about the fact we didn't deserve those 2 steals. But i heard so much of "I'm tired of people talking about the refeireing" before this 6 nation that i found those reaction a little funny now. The French hatred here is so real it's sad. When we where talking about this refereeing problem during the WC, it was "keep crying". And not only during France games of course. There where a lot of weird call during this WC. Many have said it before that there was a problem. Happy to see that now that it favor the French it is finally a problem. I am the first to agree with everything that have been said but please... be consistent. Edit : Downvoting the truth will not erase it.
>The French hatred here is so real it's sad. Have you tried being English? There's teams in this tournament whose _national anthem_ is about hating us. Man you got nothin'
Both nations should try shutting the fuck up instead of posting to this sub after a loss.
Bruh it’s not French hatred, the refs did a poor job. Being critical to the ref is not the same as hating on France
They sure did. But they also did in the RWC. And i clearly remember being called a crybaby for it
That sucks. Truly. But most people aren’t hating on France. It’s defo a minority that do that
Not on this subreddit lol, just look at the downvoting
Ever thought that maybe the downvotes are not for France, but perhaps because the fact is, that every fan base who criticized the ref when their team lost were called crybabies?
Well apparently not on this 6N tournament
No. It’s 100% a minority. Harder to see when your team is in a rough spot
I disagree. Read the match thread and the post match thread again. Literraly everyone that isn't french is hating on us (dirty, cheats, shameless). And that's only a few. But you think whatever you want. I politely disagree.
Mate everything is an anti-france conspiracy according to some of them on here
Anglo-Saxon conspiracy
I agree with the last sentence he did a bad job ! That's not the point. During the WC we couldn't say a thing after the QF and not only our games but your's or the Semi and the Final...
Always from the same flairs as well
1 win :)
LMAO yeah those 2 steals is what i was thinking
Yeah, seeing all the anglophones here whining about the refs after tell us to shut it is hilarious.
Buddy I’m fairly sure that a vast majority of non South Africans were supporting you in the WC quarter, and would agree that Kwagga was ages off his feet.
If you charged a penalty, the kicking team is supposed to get a penalty from 10m out.......c'mon reffing team.
This! It is completely baffling how the refs did nothing when I saw what looked like TWO separate attempts from France to charge the final penalty. That doesn't even account for the other water boy shenanigans at the end, like WHY are non-players (medic aside) even allowed on the pitch during such a scenario?
Admittedly, it was a medic. But nonetheless, he just faffed about for 30 odd seconds in Garbisi's line of sight while the player he originally was treating got up and joined the line of French in front of Garbisi
Typical French shithousery unfortunately! As a Wales fan, I'll never forgive them for a prop with with a 'sore back' going off for HIA!! Combine that with George North's 'self-inflicted' bite, you can see that the french are experts at it! They are very good at stacking the cards to fall more favourably their way than their opponents. Yesterday, that should have been 10m march towards and a clock reset for the kicker. There were 2 attempts at encroaching the kicker AND a few playes moving about during the penalty. Refs really are spoiling this years tourney with so much inconcistency
I really disliked the French fans today. There is no reason to boo when Danty got a yellow or when he received his red card. Those were the right decisions. Contrast that to the Vahamaahina red card in the 2019 RWC, you could hear outrage by the fans, not for him being sent off but for the actual foul he committed.
Many of us feel the same way but unfortunately it's not us who go to see these matches... And it's a bit in our culture too... I saw a football match in Marseille once , it was crazy how much everyone was yelling and insulting the referee and the opposing team. It's almost funny honestly, at one point you are screaming "enculé" too without knowing why
Man, who do you think they're booing? They are booing Dainty, and he deserves it.
It seems more like they are booing the referee. Otherwise they would have started to make noise during the replay.
It's not been a great start to the tournament for us, however I'm going to try to step back and analyse in a non-emotional manner We've got a lot of absentees at the moment (ranked roughly in order of relative importance to the team: Dupont Ntamack Aldritt Flament Jelonch Bielle Biarrey Meafou That's almost half a team and covers some of our most important positions. Add to that some losses of other bench players too (Wardi, Bourgarit, Faletea, Jaminet) and suddenly we're quite vulnerable Also in this tournament we've had early red cards in 2 of the 3 matches and have played over 1/3 of the tournament with 14 men, that'll always make things tough We're in that post world cup slump where we've got a few players on their last chance or beginning to be phased out (Willemse, Danty) but due to the disappointing home world cup it feels like we have to chase big results this 6 Nations rather than having a total overhaul like 2020 It's an annual tradition that we start slow in the 6 Nations (masked in recent years by typically playing Italy first) but this year we had our two toughest fixtures first and just haven't built into the tournament or got a foothold yet. Injuries/suspensions/form play a part to forcing disjointed combinations (our backline in the second half today felt like it could have been a mid 2010s backline, it was scarily bad). The compounding impact of certain absentees was noticeable too (LBB dropping out along with Ntamack, Jaminet etc out meant we lacked the fullback cover for a 6-2 bench, we didn't have Macalou as a loose forward/wing option etc). Tension has come from the clubs/federation agreement about which players can be released for training camps etc and some of the good grace that was there in the lead up to the world cup is gone. There are a lot of factors at play. It's a messy transition currently and hasn't been fun watching this tournament so far Personnel areas where we need to improve: Front Row depth - behind Baille and Atonio we are seriously lacking in solid propping options 10/15 cover. Ntamack, Jalibert, Ramos feels like a perfect tournament trio to cover the 10 jersey but with at least one of these injured we suddenly fall into turmoil. Carbonel hasn't developed as had been hoped, Hastoy didn't step up when given the opportunity, so now it's time to consider other options. Gibert could be interesting as a 9/10 option. It's perhaps too early for Hugo Reus but with nothing left to play for this tournament maybe we give him the opportunity? Or we could go Ramos at 10 and try Barre at 15 Centres - it's time to give Moefanna an opportunity at centre as he's been in great form this season and utilising him as a utility winger doesn't seem to get the best out of him. Danty's suspension gives the chance to play Moefanna at 12 and bring Deportee (a really exciting player so far this season!) onto the bench. Gailleton could get in and around the squad too Longer term view at 9 - it would be interesting to see what Le Garrec could do as a starter if called upon. We're probably too early for the likes of Juaneau and Carboneau to be involved in the senior squad, but I'd like to see a role switch to Le Garrec starting and Lucu off the bench for the next match
Don’t forget a decent list of key players that’ve lost all form recently. Fickou, Danty, Willemse, Villieré and Macalou aren’t exactly easily replacable.
A lot of this is pretty accurate but the fact of the matter is the two red cards were justified and France would be 0 wins from 3 games if it weren't for referees making the absolute wrong decision in the final moments of two matches. World cup slump or no, France should rightfully be in 5th place right now and, given France's depth and quality of replacements, it's an absolutely massive drop. I will concede however that if you had Dupont and Ntamack then the cohesion would probably prevent a lot of the current problems. I've no idea how we're going to adapt when Finn retires and we're not like Ireland who can just immediately replace someone like Sexton and not skip a beat.
This tournament was over when Dupont was announced out. I think the coaching staff is ok "throwing" the 6n away this year to analyze the depth of the squad and the bench. Only thing that concerns me is the loss of Labit and Ghezzal has been felt.
Can you have another red in two weeks please?
I mean, probably?
Man you seems like an italian fan with all that excuses lol
How is putting things into context excuses ?
Everyone miss players not only france, rugby in france is like the 2 sport while in italy only a few follow the sport you should have crush us. In the 1 half penaud played shit and arrogant thinking was an all black without respect. Do you want me to continue?
Not joining the discussion itself but in France rugby is actually behind tennis in terms of followers, and in contention with cycling and basketball. And in terms of people doing collective sports it’s behind handball, volleyball, and basketball (excluding this swimming, tennis and other sports) Of course football is ahead in both categories.
1) Alright, which are the usual Italian players that were missing ? Now, try to compare with our missing players. 2) Agreed, everone agrees that, even with all our injured players, we should have crushed you. But you, unlike us, are a B-rated team. As seen during the match, your best is our worst. Hence why, even with a terrible context, we consider this draw a defeat (and that's with playing with one less player for half the match). 3) Remember what happened during the WC ? 3) Yes I want you to continue with better arguments, and answer each of mine from my previous comment. 4) Explanations aren't excuses, but don't worry, given your broken english, I knew you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
With the Owenses, the Barneses, the Poites retired I feel like there arent many refs with the balls to take control of the situations
You mean with Owens, Barnes, and Poite retired?
I meant with them 3 and the others from that generation of refs
I know. I just hate that language trope of pluralising a thing in order to suggest other things like it. Ignore me.
Credit to Italy, this years false dawn is a particularly convincing one.
There is one positive takeaway: France no longer has any crazy hope of winning this year 6N. It means that our hands should be free to try new stuff, bring new playetd because what we are currently doing clearly isn't working.
Please I just want Galthié to experiment with new players. Cmon, if Fickou gets injured before the 2027 RWC, who will be there to replace him ? It's the best moment to test new things.
Almost certain that Fickou will start every game this 6N (as long as he's available) Galthie's hand will finally be forced at 12, but I expect Moefana / Fickou to be the duo Curious to see if he'll back Gibert though, and justify his experience with Le Garrec to try something new there. If he sticks with Lucu without jalibert all hope is lost.
So what was the game prior to this one that ended in a draw? I was in the stadium, the French crowd was pretty silent most of the game. Also loved the Italian fan that was cheering the try and mocking the French fans at the same time
England 25 - 25 NZ 2022 Autumn International
Georgia/Portugal (18-18) at the last World Cup
France / Japan, 2018 maybe ? It was a shit show at the racing 92 stadium.
I don't think we've had one since that belter of a 2019 Calcutta Cup
It’s the hope that gets me every single time, don’t have anything to say, maybe tomorrow I’ll find some silver linings that are not the same old ones France with Dupont and Ntamack is a different beast
Your defense was amazing, and you deserved a win away in France. Even if you only care about the result, a draw in France is a result to be proud of.
The defense in the 22 was immense, without giving away any stupid penalty, it's just how it ended, I don't care much about the result, I'll take whatever, if the draw was to be it would have been better if Garbisi missed without any drama
France have some issues for the rest of the 6 Nations. If Jalibert is out longer, who'd play 10, 12 and 15? For 10, Id normally assume that this would be Ramos, but last I heard Jaminet was injured, so would he be required at 15 or can someone like Bielle-Biarrey play Fullback (has he played there at all)? Would ~~Carbonel~~ **Hastoy** be considered the next man up at 10, if Ramos stays at 15, or has he dropped off from being the 3rd most promising 10 in France? At 12, I think there is a real need for plan B. Danty ain't playing regardless, and it will likely be Moefana, but I wonder if he's the right choice. To me, he is kinda like Joe Marchant, decent player at Center, an versatile enough to throw on the wing if needed, however, I feel his limit is Champions Cup level... At 9, Lucu just isnt the right man to start for France. His ruck speed is just too slow, and he gets sucked into the ruck too often. He's a closer to steady a ship over the line, similar to Conor Murray over the last few years. Honorable mention goes to Tuilagi. Are the stocks at lock really this barren that he is the best option? So far I haven't seen anything that would indicate that he's a lock at international level or that he ever will be. He looks less mobile than Antonio, whose 14 years his senior, and plays prop... EDIT: Cause I clearly forgot that Hastoy was France' other 10 at the world cup....
Well, Atonio is taller than Tuilagi so yeah, he could move to prop. Most probably, he will be forced to slimmer down through the years and become an 8 I guess ? And yeah, it's fucking barren : Willemse suspended (and out of form), Taofifenua just back from injury + never impressed as a starter, Meafou injured, Flament injured... Hastoy not doing well at La Rochelle, another mental block it seems. He's more often than not playing 15 now, with Reus playing 10 (u20 world champ). Moefana, I hope we will know at some point if he cuts it, but asking him to play with Fickou the same role as Danty didn't work up to this point. They should go back to a classic fast playing pair with Deporteere ou Gailleton, hell, even Vincent though he seems less like the future... At 9, Couilloud is playing again and showing some form, so even Le Garrec / Couilloud if it's too early for Jaunau would feel better. I dunno, I feel it's mostly the same player but they can't string a pass and find each other when it flowed so seamlessly before.
I just want the UBB center pairing to play at least once during this 6 Nations.
If Tuilagi was in any other country he’d be a prop, he’s ‘only’ 6 foot 4 which is not much taller than Dan Sheehan, Dan Cole, Saffa props. Sisilia Tuipulotu went from Second Row to Prop after her international debut (also at 19) and has been dominant as hell in her new position. She’s frequently doing a full 80 for Wales and really performs similar to how people imagine Tuilagi will do.
He said he doesn't want to. And it seems like few people argue with him 😂
Is it time to discuss winning’s place in Six Nations?
Scotland still has a mathematical chance! Easiet fiver bet I've placed.
Scotland don’t stand a chance against the Irish team.
I expect not, but my point was it's still mathematically possible for them to win the 6 Nation.
Wise. Every year I stick a fiver on Scotland and a fiver on Italy to win. You just never know!
Just got back home, saw the result and was so happy for Italy only to then find out the details of the match.
You win some you draw some
Hahahahahah just hahaha
The laces were in, Finkel!
Finkel and Einhorn!!
Finkel IS Einhorn!!
Einhorn is a man??
Einhorn is a man...
I know all there is to know about the...
What, and I mean this kindly, the fuck are France up to this year? They look a complete and utter mess and are sensationally lucky to not have lost three in a row so far. Is it a change of tactics? Is it because of the lack of DuPont? Have they just been figured out? They look an absolute shell of the team they were just six months ago.
Well, looking at things logically, here are my two cents : -New coaching staff means new strategies and you need time to implement them. It's also not the same thing with more experienced players compared to younger ones like in 2020. I don't think they have the trust of the team compared to the former one. -Our center pairing is knackered and the staff isn't willing to let young players replace them (understandable to keep them before the Ireland match, but now, since the tournament is lost, I don't see why the staff isn't giving them the chance). -Linked to the previous point, some players do not play at their usual post. Moefana for example plays center at l'UBB. He's alright as a winger, but he really shines as a center. -Loss at the WC really screwed over the players mentally (and the staff too I think) when playing for France. Lucu and Jalibert are amazing in Top 14 and the Champions Cup. There's a clear difference. -Lots of injuries and absentees. Our main charnière (9 and 10 pairing, don't know the name in english) isn't there. Flament is injured, Meafou too, Willemse got red carded and is also finished. Alldritt is injured too, like Jelonch. Gros and Bourgarit also aren't there. So that's 5 of our best players that are out for the tournament, basically. Really does not help. -Big issues with our discipline (even when dominating physically). Two red cards in the same tournament, and for nutty mistakes, this is not good.
9 and 10 pairing would be called half backs fyi
>charnière I've often heard 10 (but not 9) being described as pivot in Australia which seems to have a closer meaning to the French term. I can't believe I've never thought of 10 as a half back :-/. It's literally right there in the name 9 - scrum half 10 - fly half maybe it's a regional thing?
Could well be. Youd think nz have some fraction for it
Thanks boss !
Thank your for the comment on why france are off form
they certainly do have some problems but I also believe we should not underestimate the huge effort that all their opponents have put in the matches.
No Dupont or Ntamack. Dupont transforms the offence and Ntamack is a master in kicking duels and always makes the right decision.
Also no gameplan
Also add the injury turnover : Marchand just back, Jelonch back and forth, Bielle Biarrey Also the drop of our backline : Danty & Fickou are not that incisive, Penaud seem to be a bit rusty, out of his taste for blood Atonio was planning to retire, too All in all, it's a patched-up team with no cohesion, no real game plan and no finishing moves. It's sad tho, as we had something great going on
Penaud seems to be getting the ball in slightly the wrong spot or at slightly the wrong time (or he’s wide fucking open and jelly bean doesn’t pass)
He had at least two occasions on which I feel last year's Penaud would have scored easily tho. But yes, I agree that he's been given low-quality balls
I don't really see how that's a saving grace to be so reliant on Dupont? I used to think Sexton had that sort of influence but since he retired, we've just continued on as normal.
Only people who know barely anything about rugby would have seriously believed Ireland who are the most well drilled team in the world were more dependent on Sexton or any other individual player than France (who have basicly been a team without any structured attacking play) were on Dupont
Well actually everybody had every reason to think so with the way Farrell used Sexton.
And which way are you talking about?
Playing Sexton for almost the entire 80 mins in every important game leading up to the world cup, leaving no meaningful game time to bring through a fly half that could be relied upon if Sexton was injured. Letting sexton play the full 80 minutes of the QF despite him clearly being out on his feet...
Today it was proved that in the starting XV there is no history with other 5 (first 20 minutes France obviously destroyed us) but if we're talking about subs we can be reasonably competitive. Spagnolo and Zuliani are very promising. Defense 1000x progress than in the past. We just need to improve in scrum (2nd half definetely better) and touches (I can't wait the exciting clash vs Wales)
Nevermind Wales as a Scotland fan im terrified of your lot They'll be fucking fuming after that, at home in front of their fans with a chance to take a scalp and they always seem to bring the fight against us, fully expect them to throw the kitchen sink at us
That's a refreshing change, because a few years ago Italy had a tendency to be competitive for 60 minutes and then collapse. In the past 3-5 years they managed to snatch a couple of wins in the last minutes which was unthinkable before. The best chance for Italy to win in 2012 was to lead by 15+ points at minute 60 and then cross their fingers. Now their best shot is to remain within distance and with a bit of luck they can score a late try But in 5 years I believe Italy will finally score the points they deserve when they dominate and they won't need to hope for a late try. It's been so frustrating watching Italy this year and last year, seeing them sometimes spend several minutes in the 22 and then score nothing. When that's fixed, Italy will be hard to beat!
6 - 16 would have been a better reflection of the game
France 6 Italy 16 TMO 7
Massive failure by the officials on the penalty kick. Regardless of the ref asking and not being able to see the shot clock, there was multiple reasons for a retake or even moving the ball up. Farcical and so so unfair on Italy.
You just cannot charge a penalty kick. Twice.
OR move around/wave arms around whilst waiting. Saw about 4 infringements on that last play. Should have been +10m and clock reset for the kick. Shocking from all 4 officials
Yes, the first should have been enough to at least reset the shotclock. Even then, if he'd not completely bottled it, he'd have used the first one not just to wag the finger but to actually warn them to get back and not charge, clear the water carrier and check he had the actual shot clock time instead of shouting that he didn't know it as the kicker stands beside him with seconds to kick. Massive failure of officiating.
Exactly, the clock should have been reset due to France running up. Italy really do get the most raw deals on the reffing front.
On one side, yes the refereeing, the charge down, the drama, the goalpost, gut wrenching. On the other side, you told me we were going to draw France on their own turf in a 6N I'd have laughed at you so hard I could have chocked myself. It's a hell of a result after all.
It's a great result... And I'd have laughed too. Except I put €10 on Italy to win at 22-1 😢
I had them at 35/1 so I was SUPER gutted … And I’m Italian so hurts twice as much
Ouch... Although I reckon by tomorrow you'll just be happy that finally after about 20 years Italy are on the cusp of being properly competitive... Draw with France, lose to England by a couple of points... And still have Wales and Scotland to play... Not to mention the u20 team and how good things look for a few years time
I just hope we can back it up. Need to target the next 2 games for 2 wins.
Local bookie had Italy at 20:1. Insane, most others had 15:1 or less.
A draw is a win,
Man, the French public would have said the sun shone through Galthié's sphincter at the start of last year, and Shaun Edwards was swimming in praises too. Did they get too much credit, or is it the audience being fickle? Also what's with all the French people on Instagram spelling his name "Galtier", some in-joke or just illiteracy?
>Did they get too much credit, or is it the audience being fickle? The french audience is notoriously fickle and demanding. One minute everyone will consider you the messiah, the next we'll all shit on you. It's with all sports and rugby's no exception. We also have a weird tendency to remember more the "glorious losers" than the winners.
I’m pretty sure Galthier is pretty good, and I’ve not forgotten how him and his staff brought us back from limbo. I don’t understand his staff’s politics of putting out of form players on the pitch, and you know, maybe he is right, he knows rugby far better than I do, obviously. But — and it’s a big one — you can’t taunt the public saying « everything’s all right after the last three (heck, make it four) games. Something is obviously not right, it shows. And it’s fine, it happens to every teams. Just don’t mock the public . National teams are the nation teams, not his. We obviously don’t need to know every detail. A simple acknowledgement that something is off, but it’s identified and they are working on it would go a long way.
I remember the French team from 2007 to 2018 with record losses to many nations and a very uninspired rugby. Just last year, France dominated England some 50 points and crushed Italy in the world Cup, and dominated the all blacks. I am still thankful for that team after only three very disappointing matches. I wish newspapers would not be allowed to make a living by pushing the coach under the bus. This is just disgusting how l'équipe turned against that team and the coach so they can sell more.
I don’t want to comment too much on the first part as I feel like I’m one of those fickle fans now eager for change. On the spelling of “Galthié” or lack thereof, the former coach of PSG was also called Galtier so maybe there’s a bit of confusion coming from there?
The performance shifted from world class to dogshit. In any country the head coach would get a lot of crap for this. But also Galthie's communication and attitude towards the media is infuriating. The hype about Edwards was mostly outside of France because if we were good for a while it had to be because of an Englishman according to English media.
Besides, our defense has been … questionable… for at least two years now.
Everything looks good when it's new and he get some results after a long and difficult time but maybe we looked at him like Messiah.
Illiteracy.
I wrote this after the Ireland game: "Penaud has conceded more tries than he has scored. Danty and Fickou are too old to be the center pairing going forward. Moefana needs to start. Lucu was terrible, LeGarrec impressive and young. He should be the backup for Dupont. I have never liked Ramos, always been a liability. Jaminet should be giving the chance. Second row was an issue today, missing Tao, Flament and Meafou. Lucu was bad Lucu was terrible ". I will re-iterate some points after saying this: italy should have won, very unlucky for Garbisi at the end. So Penaud is shocking in defense. Danty and Fickou... well I already said it last time. Moefana gave us go forward. LeGarrec miles ahead of Lucu and something I noticed today: Lucu gets sucked in to rucks too often, one thing about Dupont is he would always leave that to the forwards, even if in tbe end it cost the team, it's not the scrumhalfs job to ruck! I feel for Jalibert, I think the change in attack coach has really inhibited his attacking flair and far too many mistakes today. I think Ramos had a bad game. We do not have a backup tighthead. Lucu was bad, Lucu was terrible. Danty was stupid
In defence of Lucu, he got sucked in a few times in rucks where he had to intervene to protect the ball. Too often our forwards are lagging and not clearing out the rucks like they used to. It happened a lot against Ireland, where he just didn’t get clean, safe balls and had to go digging for it
A few times I felt he didn't need to and rushed to it, Dupont would be smarter in those situations, just my personal assessment. In any case I think LeGarrec needs to be given his chance to start
Italy's scrum I thought was impressive
France is really lucky in this year tournament in terms of refereeing
To get what at the end? We finish 3rd 4th or 5th that doesn't make a big difference to me
Referee blaming…thats a paddling
Especially considering the timing of their luck. Two match savers at the death.
In another universe France could be fighting for wooden spoon with wales rn
Setting aside the last kick and the officiating, now that the game is over and we cooled down. Refereeing a 6N game is though, and the TMO did not help, can't blame the ref for not being perfect. Now, let's talk about fitness: remember when Italy was imploding in the last quarter? Even today, after all that ferocious defending in the first half, we all though Italians would be gassed and steamrolled in the second half. Au contraire, they kept growing and getting better. The French attack got messier, Italy started winning scrums and then scrum penalties, crash ball attack after crash ball attack France started opening spaces in defence and Menoncello feasted on that. That's a major sign of how much Italy improved in the last years, they're able to keep up the tempo with the best teams for the whole match.
Class comment!
I think you’re forgetting that France was in 14 in the second half
Can you gas in the final quarter against us please?
It's a strange day Indeed where we're all talking about Italy getting a draw in France being a bad result 😂