He wants to be a caliph instead of a caliph. On November 12, France’s XV, who are dreaming of becoming world champions for the first time in their history in 2023, will face defending champions South Africa on Saturday, November 12. Before that, Saturday’s narrowly won duel against Australia allowed the Blues to gauge themselves and gauge the extent of the work remaining as they hope to stir up a more vindictive box after the defeat. at Ireland (19-16) this Saturday.

Note the start of the match

Antoine DuPont’s team-mates will have every interest to negotiate a better start to the match if they want to secure a 12th straight win. As in this first action, we saw Toulouse chase the scrum-half (quick rise of the defence) and then at the first attempt to clear on foot, the Blues seemed to catch their opponents by surprise. “Strategically, we were shocked. We lacked precision,” After the meeting, Antoine recognized DuPont. The Blues conceded two penalties (4th and 13th) which were improved by Australian striker Bernard Foley.

Physically raise your voice

Facing Australia, the Blues offered a face that had nothing to do with the winning face we’ve come to know them in recent months (ask the All Blacks what they think), especially in a physical battle. Accustomed to crushing their opponents and punishing them by devouring the spaces left in the second period, they often suffered the consequences. Attacking tackles like the one sent by Thibaud Flament to slow down the Wallabies’ first attack were rare.

If the weighty Olivon-Aldrit doublet stands out in attack (35, 51m gains) as much as it does in defense (12, 11 tackles), it won’t be enough to shake the South Africans, whose leading duel is their trademark. . True bulldozers in rucks and scrums, this is how they went in search of the world title in Japan in 2019. On Saturday evening, the Blues lost half (3/6) of the scrums they played, Cyril Bailey. Returned to the match and was penalized from the start. We have to remain vigilant.

A foot game of invasion and pressure to be clarified

Inevitably, behind a tight pack, the DuPont-Ntamack hinge is much lower than normal. Rarely have we seen the first wait behind a ruck, hesitate to make a decision and try a few telephone passes. Hand care and foot delivery is not as efficient as it was recently. While Tomas Ramos more or less fulfilled his role as scorer (6/7), in the absence of Melvin Jaminet (the team’s deepest-footed player), the trio struggled to find more length than accuracy. A low kick over Antoine DuPont and a capricious rebound that deflected off Gael Ficu put the ball in the Australian’s hands and offered them a magnificent 80m try.

Benj’s contribution and Olivon’s return

“The newcomers have done a lot of good things. In two weeks, we could not compensate for so many months without playing together, but the players who play instead of the injured stay away and give themselves. Above all, regardless of the players. , France’s XV continues to win”Support the coach at the end of the game.

Let’s quickly go to the XXL competition of Charles Olivone, the designated man of the match, established in the absence of the injured Francois Kroes, and talk about Mathieu Jalibert among others. Coming on for the opener in place of Romain Ntamac, he offered the winning effort to Penaud with a brilliant pass. Up front, Mauvaka, Falathia and Prizo brought Pep to their strength. The ability of this XV of France to maintain a high level of play should prove decisive against the Boks, even if players change in the starting XV or during the match.