Rugby – France – South Africa: The three keys to (hope) get by

Assure the keys, one of its big weak points, to show realism, throbbing chorus, and not to crack defensively as in June in New Zealand: the XV of France has sectors of progression well identified at the time of confronting South Africa Saturday at the Stade de France.

Defense: ironing in winter time

It was one of the great satisfactions of the Six Nations Tournament last winter, for the debut of Jacques Brunel as coach. But the French defense then took the water in New Zealand (52-11, 26-13, 49-14). "We must find our aggressiveness and the mobility of the tournament that we did not have during the tour," confirms the center Geoffrey Doumayrou.

In the All Blacks, the Blues have "taken a lot of tests on lost balloons and transition phases," the Rochelais badysis. "We must not rush: try to find the balance on one or two times of play and put them back under pressure.Be smart, do not throw yourself, and redo a line," he lists.

"Everyone must react at the same time in the same way," said Brunel, who chose a pair of centers (Bastareaud-Doumayrou) in this sector. The Medard-Thomas-Penaud rear triangle, which is expected to be filled with aerial balloons, will be particularly threatened. Brunel is aware of this: he partially justified the tenure of Penaud by his ease under the balloons higher than that of Gaël Fickou.

Touches: can only do better

Deprived of his best jumper, Yacouba Camara, injured, the French roster is lagging behind other great nations: 76.6% success on his own throws this year, far from Welsh (93.3) or Irish (92.7).

"In New Zealand, we came down against the best alignment in the world, we had a little stress and we transmitted this stress that did not help us," recalls the flanker Kélian Galletier.

According to the Montpellier, the French have "identified the flaw in touch" Boks and must be simple to do well: "It is not the number of combinations that can offer balloons, I even think the opposite. better to have the best timing, the best relationship between the heel and its lifters. "

Rather than a variety of combinations, "it is rather our ability to speed up the opponent" that will allow the Blues to improve, believes the third line. "Ireland, she chooses to take her time to choose but after she goes fast.In the key, it is necessary to differentiate the decision-making and the act."

To the captain Yoann Maestri to make the right choice. And Guilhem Guirado (76% success) and Camille Chat – which is the "heel" Achilles (70%) – to ensure their throws. The Blues also hope to count, especially cons, on the contribution of Arthur Iturria, partly titularized for its "quality in the air," according to Brunel.

"To be patient" to concretize

The second test lost to the reigning world champions (26-13) clearly illustrated it: "we pbad the first curtain but we can not score points," laments the scrum half Antoine Dupont. "It's obvious that we lose too many balloons in the end zone, we are not efficient enough," abounds Galletier.

The solution? "To be patient in the zone of mark, which is not necessarily French.It is difficult to multiply the time of play, to hold the ball very long", estimates Dupont. A patience to apply both "on the choices of the game and the rhythm", specifies the Toulousain, "in particular on slower balloons: not to put under pressure stupidly by taking out a balloon if one is not ready to play behind".

Keeping a cool head in hot moments, the Blues learned at their expense with the drop of Jonathan Sexton who crucified them in opening the Tournament (15-13): "The big teams, including Ireland, are able to to keep the ball 20, 30 phases of play to try to score and it's really strategic intelligence, lucidity and replacement ", summarizes Galletier.