The coach of the XV de France was delighted with the performance of his team, who came out on top against Japan (52-12). He warned, however, that it would be necessary to turn up the heat next Saturday against runners-up New Zealand.
What lessons can you draw from this resounding victory?
Fabien Galthié: After two weeks of preparation, with some players we hadn’t seen for a year, this match was a leap into the unknown, the first official match of a new season. What did we learn? Victory. It’s also important to maintain a certain level against the Japanese, who imposed a lot of speed and “ball in play” on us. So, first of all, we won the test and, secondly, it was a good preparatory match which rounded off a very tough, very intense preparation. The Japanese pushed us to our physical limits.
Offensively, was the performance close to what you’d like to see?
I’m not sure we’ll score 8 tries in the coming matches, but it looks like our roadmap, what we’re looking for in the alternation. Well, not always. There was some garbage. I’m not satisfied with everything.
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Facing the All Blacks on Saturday, France will have to turn up the heat…
This is their sixth month of competition, their 14th.e match of the season. They seem to be doing very, very well. They’re racking up wins on the road. The All Blacks are back at the top of their game. They’re finishing their international season very, very well. They’re a complete, homogeneous team. You can tell they’re on a roll. And they’re back in Paris where, a year ago, they were in the World Cup final. They have a vision.
Is this a turning point for your team?
The All Blacks come into the tournament on the back of three wins over Japan, England and Ireland. There’s not much more to say about the level of our future opponents. A turning point? I’d say it’s more like a big meeting that we’re all really looking forward to.
Mauvaka is a very good performance leader. I’d like his team-mates to follow in his footsteps…
A word about Peato Mauvaka, who put in an impressive performance against Japan.
He’s in great shape! You can see it in training. He’s a very good performance leader for us. I’d like us (his teammates, NDLR) is inspired by it. He played a complete game. He came close to scoring from a wing position.
Emmanuel Meafou offers you a new profile, all power.
First of all, he’s a great rugby player, skilful with his hands, who reads situations well and is also a great defender. What’s more, yes, he has that rare power. He’s an exceptional n°5. We were lucky enough to have him for the last two matches of the Six Nations Tournament. We’re very pleased with him. What’s more, he’s a young player at international level, still developing. We need to improve his potential.
Why did you make a big coaching decision so early in the game?We wanted to see Guillard, Boudehent… We wanted to mix up the profiles a bit to see how they complemented each other.
Interviewed at the press conference