6 Nations Tournament: the melting Vélodrome, the experience of the Greens, the feeling of revolt of the Blues… What a destiny for France-Ireland ?

Les Bleus de Penaud Danty et Fickou se préparent à une bataille de tranchées face aux Irlandais. MAXPPP – olivier corsan

Eliminated in the quarter-finals of the 2023 World Cup, the French and Irish want to turn the page. The Grand Slam may be decided on Friday.  

We take the same ones and start again, with the idea that it is in old pots that we make the best jams. And, since we are in the cliché, let's say that it is at the end of the France-Ireland ball that we will pay the musicians.

Three months ago, this titanic clash between two of the best nations on the planet would have deserved the trappings of a World Cup final. But the Boks and the Blacks came through, ruining the hope of a crowning achievement for Old Europe. It is therefore the centuries-old VI Nations Tournament that has the honor of settling the rivalry between Tricolores and Clubs, this Friday evening at the Vélodrome stadium in Marseille.

Marseille, the “country” rugby

The confrontation promises to be as formidable as it is indecisive, in two words, tremendously exciting, embalmed in the traditions of a competition magnifying the memory of a Sunday of victory with the family, even if it was the fever of a Friday evening.

Ireland, first nation in the world rankings (France is 4th), holder of the Grand Slam in 2023 and formidable crushing machine, is reasonably favorite. Except that the scene of the fight is located in Marseille, in the "country" rugby, where 60,000 supporters, nourished with the accents of OM, vibrate in unison with the passion for the Blues. 

Heart will be needed to achieve a prestigious success against the Greens, deprived of their newly retired Jonny Sexton but still devilishly equipped. "It's a selection which will be presented to around 60 capes on average, insists French coach Fabien Galthié. Compared to the team that lost in the quarter-final to the All Blacks, there is a player absent due to injury on the right wing, Mack Hansen, in addition to Sexton. Afterwards, it will be exactly the same team. We're not very worried about their ability to perform collectively without Jonathan Sexton."

Ageism and performance

Opposite, the French injured.

At the height of his 28 years and 31 selections on average, he is close to the standards of Galthié, who dreams out loud of a team of seasoned thirty-somethings, in four years in Australia, in reference to the ageism-experience-performance triptych of South African rugby. But for now the Blues also remain in a failure in the quarter (28-29 defeat against the Boks), with this big question: how will they react mentally ?

The Irish will offer us a lot of sequences, with a lot of possession and we will have to resist that…

We hope they will be more convincing in the acts of rebellion than in their analysis of the defeat, especially the coach. 

In order to counter Ireland, this time he decided to display in the foreground the tactics of the men-at-arms: Yoram Moefana at the # The wing and Paul Gabrillagues in the second line demonstrate the choice to favor combat over mobility, this evening in the opening match, with ten "globalists" at kickoff.

Dessert as a starter

"We know that the Irish are going to offer us a lot of sequences, with a lot of possession and we will have to resist that…"< /em>, declared Catalan Patrick Arlettaz, promoted to new three-quarter coach.