Australia: “We must be proud” … The Blues savor their historic record of 11 straight wins

For some (hello Thibaud Flament!), this record story was “a journalist thing”. It must be said that players and coaches of the XV of France have been entitled for months at a press conference to questions about their series of invincibility. This now stretches over 11 games, after the victory snatched from Australia (30-29), this Saturday in Saint-Denis.

However, neither Antoine Dupont nor Fabien Galthié shunned when it came to the best performance in the history of French rugby, since the 10 successes in a row of the 1930s are now in retro.

The captain-coach duo even offered a short but pleasant dueting exercise on the stage of the Stade de France auditorium.

• Dupont: “Fabien and his generation had already done 10…”
• Galthié: “Eight…”
• Dupont: “I wasn’t far. »

“It shows that what we are doing works, took over the Toulouse scrum-half. We must be proud, but keep this appetite and this requirement. We didn’t win anything today, even if we continue in our adventure. It only gives us more desire. »

“Winning is our mission”

As often, Galthié was a little more solemn than the very prosaic best player in the world: “The numbers are there. Winning matches is our mission. The scenarios are always different, but being able to win 11 games makes us very proud, very happy. The work is rewarded, it gives us confidence and validates the choices made since the beginning of the mandate. »

Since the last hitch, July 17, 2021 in Brisbane with the Wallabies (33-30), the Blues have displayed an impressive list of trophies: Argentina, Georgia, New Zealand, Italy, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England , Japan twice and, therefore, Australia.

Without wanting to disrespect our glorious elders, it still looks different than the 10 consecutive successes amassed before the war: a 14-13 victory against England in 1931 to “celebrate” the ousting of France from the V Nations tournament, because rugby was too violent and not amateurish enough for the taste of the British; a 43-5 card against Italy in 1937 and between the two eight “triumphs” against Germany, not really a reference.

The only thing missing for the Tricolores in 2022 is South Africa to watch to complete the loop, 10 months from the meeting of a lifetime: the World Cup, served more at home. That’s good, the current tenants of the Webb-Ellis trophy will present themselves at the Vélodrome next Saturday, eight days before the much more tender Japanese in Toulouse.

A very failed copy against Australia

But to bite into the Springboks as the Irish did this weekend (19-16), it will undoubtedly be necessary for the “Galthié boys” to show something other than at the Stade de France, where only the late feat of Damian Penaud avoided leaving the road. Balls carried messed up, attacks without speed, forwards and faults as in the (not) good old days of the 2010s, automatisms forgotten in the locker room…

Even the reference hinge Dupont – Ntamack squealed against Wallabies certainly capable of dazzling, but not supposed to pose so many problems for the winners of the last Grand Slam. “We knew it was a high probability, as with each resumption of competition, reacted the coach, no more worried than that. That was the case against Argentina last year. [29-20]. »

Galthié compares the “southern nations who arrive with five or six months of competition” and his “premium” team, that of the cadors, which had not been aligned since the victory against England, March 19 (25- 13). “We are seven months later. We have to deal with it, but it’s a scenario that pushed us to go for the victory in the last minutes. »

A world record of 18 straight wins

After passing his exam at a rear position that is still waiting for his boss, Thomas Ramos (20 points at 5/7 on foot) shared this opinion: “It had been a while since the team had played together. I’m not going to say it was a rematch, but we had to find a bit of a bond. Come on, excuses accepted for this time, but don’t blame yourself again.

By the way Thibaud, the world record for victories in a row stands at 18, and it is co-held by New Zealand (2016) and England (2017). But we promise, we won’t talk about it before the next Six Nations Tournament, since the Blues would have to win their other two test matches in November and succeed in a second Grand Slam in a row to equal it.