XV of France: “I expected to be criticized but I didn't panic”, “they let me be myself”, Arlettaz admits to having experienced a contrasting Tournament

Patrick Arlettaz lors de sa présentation officielle au sein du staff de l'équipe de France. Midi Libre – Michael Esdourrubailh

For his first 6 Nations Tournament, Patrick Arlettaz, new coach of three-quarters of the French team, delivers a positive feeling with hindsight, despite the torment and harsh criticism.    

Looking back, how do you analyze your first experience in the tournament ?

It was a tournament with a very difficult start. But I'm fatalistic, it had to happen like that. There were things to settle, the group was still a little traumatized by the end of the World Cup. I discovered a very united group, who had a crazy common experience, with very healthy guys. They are all stars but with healthy behavior. No matter how much we put words to the traumas, we had to experience difficult moments to gain strength and turn the page.

I think that after the first three matches, even though we won in Scotland, something clicked, this way of saying "we can't stay in this state -there. There was an awareness, we finished with two victories (Wales and England), we were second in the Tournament, the end was positive.

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Did you have time to doubt ?

Not too much. We clearly see the potential of the France team, so, at one point, we said to ourselves that we would not stay at that level. We had to find levers to regain confidence and combativeness, these are things that I knew more or less with the Usap. (Ironic.) The players were nice, for my debut, they did things very similar to what I had known, namely being in difficulty. I’m used to struggling!

It had to be the newbies who toasted, it's part of the game

What is your feeling towards the criticisms which did not spare the Blues

They were deserved because we weren't good, we didn't make the effort, we didn't have any ruck of our own, in short, we weren't very in place . I expected to be criticized, that's normal because for four years they ran over everyone and there we were in difficulty.

It had to be the new guys who were toasting, that's part of the game. Ultimately, in the last two matches, we were quite effective offensively and the criticism turned to praise.< /p>

Medially, in the face of pressure, how has the experience of Usap helped you?< /strong>