Painful winner of Uruguay, the XV of France must break free against Namibia with the return of the usual starters. Follow the meeting, from 9 p.m., on Linternaute.com.
What if Namibia’s role in this Pool A was to put the teams facing them back on their feet? France certainly hopes so after Italy crushed the African nation from the start and New Zealand had fun by displaying all its rugby panoply, after a bitter first against the Blues. Still undefeated, the host nation no longer benefits from the laurels of its inaugural success but is escorted by the doubts born from a flawed and disjointed performance against the valiant Uruguayans. A match certainly led by the usual substitutes but poor enough to force the French staff to restart their executives.
Fabien Galthié is careful not to accredit the thesis and maintains that he is still following the plan as planned with the desire to put his basic players back in working order, after a week of break and to approach the last meeting in rhythm against Italy. The coach’s posture and speech are only worth the importance we want to give them and the priority is to put the blue game back upright and erase the Uruguayan mush.
“We have a lot of respect for Namibia, we take them very seriously, and we just want to win this match and reassure ourselves in attack and defense,” explained Mathieu Jalibert to the press. So reassure yourself and recover the thread before they really escape. This meeting against Namibia comes at the right time and will provide an ideal setting for a “smooth” recovery. That of the usual starters therefore and also that of the injured like Danty who finds the center or Baille again available on the front line. Two pillars of the blue collective in need of playing time and benchmarks in the event. Like Jelonch, back in competition against the South Americans, and who will be entitled to new minutes this Thursday but not in the position he imagined. Scheduled on the wing of the third line, he will however do it in the center to compensate for Alldritt’s package. Hit in the knee, the Rochelais was spared so as not to compromise the rest of the tournament and will therefore observe his partners from the stands. A setback more than a source of concern for the French management which has resources in the third line with Cros and Ollivon to support Jelonch.
It remains to take the match from the right end and be consistent as the All Blacks were able to do against the same opponent. Without trying to copy it. “The All Blacks had a big match, but we don’t aim to score more than them or send a message,” dismissed Jalibert. It is up to him and Dupont to deploy the French game, to methodically crush the opposing defense and create gaps for the rear to slip through. “What we want is to play a complete match, in attack and defense,” promised the opener.
A task far from insurmountable provided you put in the right ingredients and quickly make the task easy by avoiding the mistakes that polluted the previous outing. On the other hand, Namibia will be keen to avoid another loss and to look better than in 2007 during the last confrontation between the two nations. Already in France, the Blues had been ruthless, scoring 13 tries including a hat-trick from Vincent Clerc for a comfortable victory (87-10). A good example to follow for the Dupont gang to get back on their feet and, finally, let go.
The match counting for the 3rd day between the XV of France and the Welwitschias (African fishing eagle and emblem of the Namibian team) will take place from 9 p.m., at the Vélodrome stadium in Marseille.
The World Cup match between France and the Namibian team will be broadcast live unencrypted on France 2.
The World Cup match between Fabien Galtier’s France and Allister Coetzee’s Namibia will be available for streaming on the FranceTV Sports platform.
BetClic: France: – / Draw: 50 / Namibia: 25
Parions Sport: France: – / Draw: 49 / Namibia: 24
Winamax: France: – / Draw: 60 / Namibia: 8.50
France: 1. Baille, 2. Mauvaka, 3. Atonio – 4. Woki, 5. Flament – ??6. Jelonch, 7. Ollivon, 8. Alldritt – 9. Dupont (cap.), 10. Jalibert – 11. Bielle- Biarrey, 12. Danty, 13. Fickou, 14. Penaud – 15. Ramos.
Namibia: 1. Sethie, 2. Van der Westhuizen, 3. Coetzee – 4. Tjericko, 5. Ludick – 6. Katjijeko, 7. Retief, 8. Gaoseb – 9. Theron, 10. Loubser – 11. Greyling, 12. Burger, 13. Deysel (cap.), 14. Mouton – 15. Van der Bergh.
