“They were better than us, more vicious”: the ordeal of the Blues’ scrum against Italy

“No scrum, no win. » In the parlance of Jean-Pierre Garouet and Robert Paperembord, no scrum, no victory. It’s with this slightly clichéd but unfailingly true motto that Sebastien Calvet summed up his crowd’s defeat to Italy (20-23) on Friday. Rarely has a team suffered as much in a closed scrum as these Blueettes, literally reeling from every push from the transalpine pack.

Of the 15 penalties conceded by the French, 6 resulted directly from this area of ​​play. And beyond the referee’s whistle, there are also scrums that are opened in two by the eight-legged Italian monster, a veritable colossi like right column Marcos Gallorini. , who must scour his phone through calls from recruiters looking for gems in this very specific position.

Nazionale’s winning effort, for example, came from yet another offensive advance: the Transalpine pack drove its captain, No. 8 Jacopo Botturi, to an in-goal (72nd). The French first line went through Julien-Cauly-Oaud hell, and the entry of Liam Akrab and Sasha Mistruli after the break changed nothing.

“Staying on your game was critical because winning is one of the most important things in our positionZinedine Ouad whispered. They really got us. They were better than us, more evil. Referee (Scottish Ian Kelly) Wasn’t with us at these scrums but hey…” New captain Corentin Mezzo, at the vanguard of the defeat from his second-line post, tried to make his troops the best they could: “We had to be united. In melee, when you’re caught, you’re caught…”

Absent weight

The three-quarters, dangerous when they were used from the outside, for their part helplessly watched their front retreat. “That’s for sure, it’s very critical when we see our big guys fall back into the scrumCenter Fabien Brau-Boirie testifies. But above all, we must not lower our heads, but encourage them, push them so that they give their best. We can’t blame them, as it is, the Italians were better. I know the big guys will work and things will be better for the following matches. »

Without some of the most powerful forwards of this 2004-2005 generation (Gazzotti, Castro-Ferreira, Afne…), retained at the club, the Blueettes were no match. Outside the scrum sector they were constantly losing skirmishes, held in the air by the stronger and smarter Italians. Later enjoy all these recovered scrums. And this first historic success against France was based on the strength of his pack.