Fabien Galthié “has become the Raymond Domenech of rugby”, analyzes a communications specialist

Fabien Galthié a l'habitude de s'adresser aux médias. Midi Libre – Michael Esdourrubailh

Familier de l'univers médiatique, Fabien Galthié, qui dressera mercredi le bilan du Tournoi des six nations des Bleus lors d'une conférence de presse à Marcoussis, s'est pris ces dernières semaines au piège de sa propre communication.

"The content is perfect." Pronounced hotly in the bowels of Murrayfield, these four words from the coach made people cringe when their team had only owed their victory in Scotland (20-16) to an individual exploit from a 20-year-old kid, Louis Bielle-Biarrey, and a contentious refereeing decision on the last Scottish action of the match.

One of his predecessors, Pierre Berbizier, had notably denounced his "ironic tone" to RMC: "I have the impression that he was making fun of the journalists present, but by making fun of the journalists, he is making fun of us, of the public (…) I' #39;expected more of a low profile from him."

Invited by the AFP at a press conference to explain his communication before the following match, against Italy, Galthié responded by saying: a long, uninterrupted tirade lasting almost nine minutes.

"Everyone is responsible for their words, their thoughts, their words",he notably argued. "And words have meaning, words are very important. Words, when we use them, are both very positive and sometimes they can hurt. They can be as strong as punches."

"Regarding the way I express myself and comment on matches or answer questions, I try to do the best possible& ;quot;, he said again. "I try to bring a vision, an objectivity. I try to understand the questions that arise because I'm careful who I talk to."

Of which act. The response itself, however, suggests the opposite, with numerous digressions and parentheses which confuse the message. A classic rhetorical device, particularly in politics.

"To take up Martine Aubry, "when it's blurry, it's because there is a wolf"", deciphers Frédéric Dosquet, teacher-researcher at the ESC Pau business school and author of a practical guide "Speaking in the media".

Galthié, former consultant for France Télévisions, Europe 1 and L'Equipe, "knows the dynamics of media communication well", notes the specialist, speaking to&# 39;a pro rugby club.

"A mirror in front of him"

Behind his rectangular glasses with thick frames and his mad scientist air, the 54-year-old technician, sometimes lunar in his speeches, is rarely short of witty words and little phrases that journalists are fond of.

Its "finishers", rather than replacements, or "UFOs& quot;, for players with an atypical background, have passed into posterity, like the "arrow of time" which was supposed to take the Blues to the title at the World Cup last fall.

But the spring is precisely broken since the failure in the quarter-final of this World Cup at home, that the former scrum half, after weeks of media silence, does not' #39;not clearly explained, hiding behind a mountain of numbers and statistics.

"When he's on the offensive, he's himself"

"He became the (Raymond) Domenech of rugby in terms of communication", analyzes Frédéric Dosquet, comparing him with the former coach of the French football team (2004-2010).

"He's someone who had the media codes, but who under duress takes refuge behind convoluted sentences. The media, which could be his allies, have become people who hold a mirror in front of him and he doesn't like it at all."

"Galthié has rugby in his blood", he explains. "When he's on the offensive, he's himself. It's cash. That’s what we buy from him. When he is on the defensive, he does not let go at all, he is completely ossified. Which means that his communication is not smooth. It is no longer natural, it is jerky. It lacks dynamism."

Content can't always be perfect.