Six Nations tournament. A wire victory for Team France , a new tournament awards at the coach Bernard Laporte . The picture seems to date idyllic, however performance XV of France in this tournament, a few months of World Cup 2007 Rugby , floated a sense of doubt about the future of the France team.
A tournament that begins on good performance, at least in the counts on the ground the viewer remains unsatisfied. Remodeled with a pack returns Chabal, Ibanez and consort, a three-quarter line that foreshadowed great soaring and new hinge whom much was expected.
After the first 3 victories blue, the world of French rugby awards the Grand Slam to French, even the press got involved. He had yet to count on the pride of perfidious Albion, a XV de la Rose which players and coaches had their heads on the block the day before the Crunch.
Our French may have erred on the side of pride, or simply because Archie favorites, tension was not the same ...
A France team in perpetual motion.
Group France for this tournament, 2007, showed a renewed, some players dismissed from the fall tour found Marcoussis and the luckiest in the field. However, after some matches, some players relapsed into through.
Chabal was expected, we saw a Sebastien Chabal incisive against Italy, and punch a player and later, flanker from Sale fell through in her: lost balls, mistakes, lack of power ... We waited
may be too much Chabal, as it is true that on his recent outings with the XV of France he had been at the party, may be we should give more time for Chabal to blend into the game system of lights ?
But within months of a major event like the World Cup , do we afford it?
Against England, Mignoni found the bench, while he had previously held its place perfectly, his rank. The strategy of the staff of the XV of France is still unusual. By selecting Dimitri Yachvili to play England, we deprived France of a scrum half sharpened, a leader of men and especially to a man already included in a dynamic. Choosing Yach, the fray is a riddle or Dimitri was repeatedly executioner of English, but in a different context. Indeed, lack of time game was a nuisance for a size Yachvili voluntary but whose physical and technical cues remained on the Basque coast. The poor form of Yachvili who confided to the press "I do not have 80 minutes in the legs, but I have them in the head", had a disastrous consequence on his game
As a whole the game XV of France, appears unsatisfactory in this tournament to consider making the game at the World Cup , were many faults and shortcomings of this particular team:
- Inability to cross the curtains so defensive free.
- Gaps defense (especially against Britain).
- A kicking game ... still rough.
Some players stand in pole position.
In this tournament, some players were placed on the starting grid for the global adventure:
- Raphael Ibanez , is positioned as boss, has always been realistic and juice brought to the team .
- Pierre Mignoni , the wretched of 1999, back in the race, should take more personal initiative to vary his game
- David Skrela, but must confirm longer apply in his kicking game.
- David Marty, a technical center, technical, good races, a desire to live the ball.
- Julien Bonnaire, few areas for improvement in terms of its quality of perforations, a major provider of balls into touch.
- Clerc, Dominici, Heymans , faithful to what was expected of these three finishers sprinters.
