XV of France. The British press is unanimous: it is totally under the spell of the Blues

A “strong team” according to the42.ie. “An impressive defense” for The Guardian. “This is the team of the future of world rugby”, even loose The Irish Times. The British media are unanimous: the Blues make them dream and they are even under the spell of the first two matches of the XV of France in this 6 Nations Tournament 2021.

A hell of revenge for Fabien Galthié and his men: the press across the Channel took advantage of it for years to make fun of the Blues and the "encouraging defeats". Before the final of the Autumn Nations Cup last December against the XV de la Rose, the English media had called the poster a "farce" due to a remodeled French team. The "farce" had not taken place, and the journalists in question had turned around and changed their minds about the Blues.

No more bullshit then, now it's time for a clear observation: France is currently advancing as the best team in Europe and the favorite to make the Grand Slam in 2021. Coming from the British media, we believe we are dreaming. But this is where we measure how much this XV of France has changed since the arrival of Fabien Galthié and his staff.

Impressed by the defense of the Blues...

If there is one sector where the Blues seduce, it is defensively. And the contribution of English specialist Shaun Edwards is far from trivial. The Guardian calls the tricolor defense "impressive", which was almost never pierced by Ireland in Dublin last weekend (13-15). The Irish Times uses the superlative "fierce" and also underlines the crucial role of Gaël Fickou within the three-quarter line of the Blues.

Murray Kinsella, journalist for The42.ie, says of Le Parisien that he was "still brilliant" against Ireland and that he "improved" by being promoted to "captain of the defense of France under Shaun Edwards”.

… and their ability to score with crumbs

The attack of the XV of France is also congratulated. “France are so impressive in attack. The Blues even have an incredible talent for scoring with not much. One or two offloads can make their opponents explode,” notes the English newspaper The Guardian.

“France are the kind of team that can score from nothing. It is perhaps the only team to be able to do this, with the All Blacks“, Can we also read. "Ireland has taken a lesson in offloads from France," says The Irish Times, which takes Charles Ollivon's essay as an example. "In three seconds, France made almost as many offloads as Ireland did the whole game."

Andy Goode and the red card for Le Roux

Nearly unanimous praise. However, Andy Goode, former international XV de la Rose (17 selections) passed by Brive, who continues to praise Shaun Edwards, did not hesitate to launch a controversy around Bernard Le Roux and a possible second yellow card which should have been taken out against the second line of the XV of France, for another trip (he had taken a yellow card in the first period for the same gesture).

“This kind of behavior has cost them dearly for decades. A red card would have symbolized this ‘old’ France “, can we see on the RugbyPass site. A trifle compared to the conclusion of The Irish Times: “France is the team of the future of world rugby. She's been chasing the Grand Slam since 2010, and she's on her way to it."

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