This morning, in London, on the banks of the Thames, the Six Nations tournament was launched later. The coaches and captains of the selections took part in a major inaugural press conference. The first to open the ball took over from the English, with Steve Borthwick, the successor to Eddie Jones, and Owen Farrell, its leader.
The last to pass were the French, the defending champions, the opponents to beat in a competition which will see them move three times, to Italy, Ireland, and England, with in particular their first two matches played away from Paris . ” It’s always different and complicated to approach a competition that we have wonbelieves Antoine Dupont, the captain, we will have to continue to improve our game, because the teams are progressing, the level is rising like every year, it is more and more difficult, with a lot of teams that are capable of winning. »
An agenda to balance
Unlike his English counterpart who had a bad weekend with five physically affected players including Courtney Lawes, Jamie George, Elliot Daly and Mako Vunipola, Fabien Galthié had no bad news to announce or confirm during this conference. Press. Gathered since Sunday evening in Capbreton, the Blues, who have played more than their opponents since the start of the season, will first seek to recover.
“We can ask ourselves the question of the number of matches that we play per year continuously with a Championship that has so many teams”
A dozen interviews were also planned for this Monday for the first day of the internship, in order to be “ listening to adjust the agenda explained Fabien Galthié. Antoine Dupont, he assures that he feels good: “ I’ve had several weekends off since the start of the season. We discussed this a lot with the Toulouse staff. It’s more at the end of the season that you can experience this fatigue. But it’s true that we can ask ourselves the question of the number of matches we play per year continuously with a Championship that has so many teams, but it’s complicated to find solutions. »
A long way to the title
Despite this reality, the Blues will try to preserve their invincibility which has lasted for 12 matches, and continue to work to remain competitive during the tournament, while working for the major objective, the World Cup. ” our grip since the team, three years agoreminds Galthié, on a dispute 30 matches. There will be 5 tournament matches to play, plus 4 warm-up matches, and six more to get to the final. This captures more than half of what we played. It is a team still in development compared to the age of our players. And we have clearly identified points for improvement, we have strong times but also weak times. »
A management of highlights and weak times to review, but also a better offensive organization to offer, which Fabien Galthié had spoken about a fortnight ago, in Périgord, for his media return.