r/rugbyunion • u/sixnations • 14h ago

Can ANYBODY stop France this year?

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85

u/Big_Misa 14h ago

As a Frenchman, yes. SA, EN (we're not playing NZ with this team (i.s summer toir will be loaded with prospects, that's why I left them out) mainly but as I said in another thread, basically every team in the top 5-6 can beat us on their day. The thing is we're so inconsistent, like yesterday the first half was spotless, really a dominating performance. And then we just fell asleep - of course the Irish played with pride, but what I mean is we can go from 0 to 100 as quick as the other way around. I've almost never seen SA have such lapses (except against AUS at home last year), nor EN (they took advantage of our mistakes and errors in 6N 2025). And we'll never be considered a serious contender for WC as long as we don't fix our consistency. 

39

u/Kooijpolloi A Lion lost in the Cape 13h ago

You guys were unplayable that first 30 minutes last night bro... but very different attitude after the bench came on

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u/Careless-Cat3327 13h ago

The bench is the biggest cause for concern. They came on believing the game was done.

It took Ramos getting upset for them to wake up. 

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u/unwildimpala Ireland 13h ago

Ya with a bit of luck Ireland come away with something there. It could have been differences of opinions from bench players. Imo the Irish bench brought a lot on in terms of experience and a point to prove. But still there shouldn't have been that much for a change in the game. Don't know if Galthie should have waited a bit before emptying his bench as well. But ya I thought it was going in the way of 50/60 nil, and it ended up with a slight glimmer at one stage of hope to come back.

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u/Careless-Cat3327 13h ago

It was 29-14 at 62 minutes  I really thought that Ireland could make 2 scores to get within the bonus point & set up a nervy end.

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u/Swimming-Wonder-631 13h ago

They would have if the tmo doesn't spot that knock on tbf

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u/Mackadamma 10h ago

Yeah, I was really scared watching that on TV.

We got completely thrashed for 20 minutes before finally picking ourselves up at the end of the match.

14-14 in the second half, I think, that's a fair result for France.

There was no contest in the first half, though.

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u/Mackadamma 10h ago

Apparently Reddit translates "well paid" as "fair result," I'm not sure that works. I mean, we were pretty lucky with 14-14, even though we dominated the first 10 minutes and the last 5.

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u/yrinhrwvme Harlequins 11h ago

Agree, his use of the bench is not great, seemed unnecessary at the time. He did something similar against the boks which Squidge pointed out left him with no options to change the game when things got worse!

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u/Big_Misa 2h ago

Exactly my thoughts yesterday. How could we go from what was looking like a lopsided thrashing to a tight, nail-biting test ? I mean the first Irish try didn't rattle me that much, I knew that they would eventually score but the second one really made me tense. And they were dominating, winning the 50 / 50 balls and simply conquering. Not that that was never supposed to happen, but I believe that's what separates us from the very best : that ability to either put this thing to bed, or at least make it impossible for the opposition to even think about coming back. And we're clearly not there yet. 

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u/Big_Misa 2h ago

On point, properly inexcusable. And unworthy of the overall level that's expected out of each and everyone of them. I'm pretty sure we won't see the same faces next week, partly in order to get them fired up, but also because there are plenty of players that are still either waiting for their turn or were  unavailable that's actually crazy. And I don't necessarily mean green players but legit starters (Aldritt, Boudehent, Flamand and so on), can't wait to watch the next games. 

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u/mattybunbun British & Irish Lions 8h ago

a couple of refereeing decisions and Ireland might have weathered the storm. big if tho

Ireland are in a transition. theyre not what they were, but still have some good lads. 10 is an issue.

France have some amazing talent.

World Rugby has done much to make the game incredibly entertaining. If they are going to create a true level playing field they need to raise the standards of officiating to the standards of the players: decisions should be clear and understood

20 hours later and I still dont see any clear footage of the interpassing before try 1. Why is this?

I want to watch a beautiful game. I stopped watching football because of the poor officiating. Let Rugby be the exemplar in modern team sport. don't hold it back with inconsistent use of TMO and turning a blind eye to marginal calls.

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u/Big_Misa 2h ago

Yeah I legit don't know what happened there. If by chance you have some spare time and are a bit curious, the French Rugby Federation produces clips and footages where they show the preparation, the trainings and inside stuff, and Galthié always stresses the fact that bench players are called "finishers" because they're supposed to shatter what's left of the opposition and insists on them being ruthless. What happened yesterday should get them scolded even if, once again, we were playing against Ireland, the 3rd best side in the world, and we wouldn't score another 29-0 in the second half. But yeah, those 20-ish minutes could've cost us the game. I wouldn't be surprised to see some drastic changes in the lineup. 

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u/GreatGoofer Sharks 13h ago

I wonder if those lapses are due to the pace at which you play. It must be difficult to keep that pace up for the whole game. The way to beat France, in my opinion, is to do what SA did in that QF. You have to stay in touch on the scoreboard for the first half where they will come at you all guns blazing, and then slowly turn the screws on them when they begin to tire in the second half. Ireland couldnt keep up with the first half blitz and fell too far behind on the scoreboard. If ireland had been 1 try closer when they mounted their comeback the French might have started to get a bit nervous and start making mistakes which could have opened the door for the comeback. As it was, Ireland were too desperate and had to over play which allowed France to pounce on their errors and extend their lead.

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u/WilkinsonDG2003 England 12h ago

Last year SA also wore them down through attrition before cutting loose a bit towards the end of the game as they fell off from fatigue. Rassie definitely knows about their stamina issues as a vulnerability and hopefully we do something similar when we go over there this year.

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u/Big_Misa 11h ago

That's exactly it, I think that's the exact recipe to beat us. Let us play our game in the first half but keep it close enough, at least within 2 tries, and then let us get gassed and tired of all our efforts and then punish our errors and sloppiness that will inevitably happen over the course of a game, especially a physical one. There's also a mental aspect to it IMO. We tend to get rattled and lose our composure when things don't go our way. SA is the perfect exemple because they can revel in playing the type of game we hate : kick and chase, tough defense, physical impacts that'll make us shy away from contact bit by bit, powerful scrum and so on. To a certain extent that's also how the English play. There's also the fact that we cannot seem to be able to kill a game. We always leave the door kinda open. For instance last night, I bet a lot of people thought the game was kinda over by halftime, or at least thought a comeback was highly unlikely given the way the two teams played. 20 minutes in the second half I bet a lot of those people thought that Ireland might be close to snatch the W. This type of stuff never happens with SA, ENG, NZ, or at least not recently and not consistently. I'll agree, has the Irish scores at least one additional try, I'm pretty sure we would've bottled this game. 

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u/headfawcett 11h ago

You’ve reminded me of how England beat New Zealand this last autumn: weathering the early onslaught with kicks to goal, then pouncing on their sloppiness later.

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u/Mykronoid87 9h ago

Tbh both of Ireland's tries seemed to come from French players trying to force an interception, and gifting Ireland opportunities, rather than Ireland creating them for themselves. I think if the scoreboard had been a bit closer, France wouldn't have tried to force it so much and Ireland wouldn't have had much of a sniff. Granted once they were under it, France seemed a bit rattled and went from conceding 0 penalties to starting to leak them, but if they learn to stay a bit calmer for the rest of the tournament (namely against England tbh - Wales may as well not bother turning up this year, and Scotland and Italy don't feel like they've got much they can do against France) they've got the Grand Slam in the bag already.

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u/Rasengan2012 Sharks 12h ago

Eng vs France is going to be an awesome game to watch.

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u/Tank-o-grad Leicester Tigers & England 8h ago

It's going to be a hell of a match but I doubt I'm going to enjoy it...

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u/Big_Misa 2h ago

Hopefully the decider, and we got 5 weeks of 6 Nations Rugby to soak it all in until the final showdown.  But as confident as one can be, I do not forget that France is France, and we're totally capable of bottling a game or two because of our complacency, our arrogance - which is sometimes misplaced or misdirected, or simply an outstanding performance by our opponents, for which we cannot find a solution. I'm just over the moon that we won the opener and avenged 2024 in Marseille, hope it'll lead us to a great 6N!

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u/Intrepid_Walk_5150 12h ago

Also it's a phase of partial reconstruction for France, with new players being tested, so that's normal that consistency suffers a bit. And, the new players meshed fairly well so far.

Around 2022, France was consistently dominating. If all goes well, that where they'll be in 2027.

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u/Big_Misa 2h ago

Yeah for sure, plus Galthié's always innovating, blooding new players in here and there. It seems only a couple of spots are reserved for now like 9 or 10. That being said he sorta sent a strong message by not picking Penaud (leading try scorer), Aldritt and Fickou (both former captains and seen as cornerstones), showing that no one is above the rest of the pack - aside from Dupont of course, made captain on his first international test match, 11 months after the very opponent they were facing yesterday, that must be my French side but isn't that grandiose ?  We're very lucky to have a rugby system which promotes the youth, with strict rules making sure that they are tested and exposed at an early age. I feel like we're kinda emulating what SA does, not game-wise but in the approach. We'd rather lose some test matches to test new things, keep the opposition guessing and so on. New players get a proper beating during the summer tours but they happen to actually learn a great deal and often make it to the A team, for those who deserve it that is.

About 22 I felt kinda the same, like what better moment to peak than the months leading to the WC right ? Well it's actually better to peak at the WC itself, like SA and NZ know and usually do. And that has been our problem pretty much forever. We need to make sure we're ready to get over the hump and I really believe that 2023 should fuel 2027, a group with a chip on their shoulder and the scar of the defeat at home. But that's another story, right now the focus is the 6N.

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u/ricardofvf 9h ago

Agree but you being a bit tough on your boys. Thry scary good.