For its second match in the Six Nations Tournament, the XV of France beat Scotland in Edinburgh (20-16). A victory which reassures the supporters of the Blues, eight days after the defeat against Ireland in the opening match.
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The XV of France, still recovering, reacted by dominating Scotland with forceps and success (20-16), Saturday February 10 in Edinburgh, during the second day of the Six Nations Tournament, a week after the non-match against Ireland.
The Scots crossed the line at the very end of the match but the referee, after viewing the video, did not validate the try.
The bad news for the Blues came from the stretcher exit of their captain, Grégory Alldritt (50e), affected in one thigh. But the third row was reassuring, declaring after the match on France 2 that he only had “a few stitches in his thigh”.
The Blues, who remained in a wreck against the XV du Trèfle (38-17) three months after the disappointment of the World Cup, are not completely healed.
But, thanks to tests from center Gaël Fickou (31e) and winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey (70e), they avoided a much deeper crisis by dodging a third setback in a row, which has not happened to the French XV since three defeats against Fiji (21-14) during the 2018 fall tour then against Wales (24-19) and England (44-8) in the 2019 Tournament.
This success, snatched from a playful but irregular Chardon XV, undoubtedly reassured the French supporters a little. From an accounting point of view, the Blues can still keep their fingers crossed and dream of success in the Tournament.
For that, we will have to count on an improbable misstep from the Irish steamroller.
It will also be necessary, and above all, to correct the numerous deficiencies of 2024. Like last week against Ireland in Marseille, the Blues sank into touch (two lost balls) despite the return of Racingman Cameron Woki in the second row.
They also had the worst difficulties on high balls, like the first Scottish try scored by White (7e), following a forward from the opener Matthieu Jalibert on a candle from Russell.
Italy, the Blues’ next opponent
Once again, indiscipline (nine penalties conceded, including seven in the first period) was costly, starting with the yellow card from prop Uini Atonio (38e).
The reaction, expected, was only partial: center Gaël Fickou certainly woke up after a few complicated months but everything was not rosy. Because the hinge squeaked. Again. Scrum half Maxime Lucu and fly half Matthieu Jalibert were put to death. A new time.
The number 10 of Union Bordeaux-Bègles (UBB) once again seemed lost, with two missed tackles, four turnovers and two penalties conceded. Lucu gave way after 50 minutes to young Racing 92 scrum-half Nolann Le Garrec, sharper and author of a saving tackle.
Once again sluggish and dominated by their hosts, they especially benefited from a bit of luck with this attempt refused to Rory Darge (80e+3) while the Scottish captain seemed to have flattened.
With a week’s break, the French XV can take a breather before turning to the reception of Italy on February 25 in Lille. But the puzzle is not over for Fabien Galthié’s staff, who will have to find solutions to avoid a first setback against the Squadra Azzurra since 2013 (23-18). Scotland will host the English enemy for an XXL clash between two outsiders.
With AFP
