“It’s hard for the players, we’re not used to it”: reactions after France-Ireland

Le troisième ligne Grégory Alldritt s'est présenté en conférence de presse après la défaite contre l'Irlande. EPA – Guillaume Horcajuelo

Le sélectionneur du XV de France, Fabien Galthié, accompagné de son capitaine Grégory Alldritt, ont réagi à la lourde défaite des Bleus contre l'Irlande (17-38) ce vendredi 2 février.

Fabien Galthié, coach of the XV of France : "It’is a defeat, with its share of negative charges. We played with 14 very quickly, with a complicated first half. It got us into trouble very quickly. It’s a hard moment to live through collectively. But, the Tournament continues, there are four matches remaining. We're going to prepare for what's next. 

The Irish made the match. We played with 14. That’s the first thing. A more precise analysis of our performance… We will take the time to digest, first on an emotional level. Tonight is not the time for reflection. There is too much disappointment to be lucid in the analysis, too many things to review and share."

💬 Fabien Galthié sur le traumatisme de la Coupe du monde : « Je pense surtout qu'il faut qu'on lève la tête et qu'on digère cette défaite déjà. On s'est préparés »

La conf en direct sur notre site : https://t.co/YqPOyecwBb#FRAIRL pic.twitter.com/cml5tbPRrP

— L'ÉQUIPE (@lequipe) February 2, 2024

"We're going to take responsibility, keep our heads high"

Grégory Alldritt, third line and captain of the XV of France : "It’s true that it’s hard. We would have liked to show another face. However, we promised ourselves to have a great match, to have character, to show intensity. We're going to have a busy start to the week, it's going to be too hard to talk about it tonight. This is not the face of the French team that we want to show. We would have liked to offer a slightly more positive premiere to Nolan (Le Garrec) and Posolo (Tuilagi). We will assume, keep our heads held high.

It's hard for the players, we're not used to it. It hurts my head. But we have character. Now is not the time to find those responsible. On Monday, we will have to look at ourselves in the mirror with great kindness. I am convinced that we will show a different face. The Tournament is long and tough. We have less cards in hand but the French team will fight until the last day."