jostled at home, the France XV won in difficulty against Fiji

Fabien Galthié’s players endured a tricky evening on Saturday, despite an excellent start that puts them on the right track.

The France XV is still not back to its best form. The Blues overcame all the hardships in the world to defeat Fiji (34-21), Saturday November 15, in front of a home crowd in Bordeaux in the second match of their autumn tour. The blow received a week earlier against South Africa (17-32) required a sharper rebound than the painful victory against the ninth nation in the world rankings.

We thought we saw it early in the game, with a near perfect first twenty minutes, punctuated by three tries from Nicolas Depoortere, Julien Marchand and Charles Ollivon, back from injury and in an unprecedented role as No. 4. But even a 21-0 lead no longer guarantees a quiet night, even at home. The Blues experienced Fiji’s revival firsthand. Pressed, losing possession of the ball and making a series of mistakes, they let their opponents bite until they equalized again at 21-21 at the start of the second half.

It was important to rely on striker Thomas Ramos to regain a six-point lead thanks to two converted penalties just before the hour mark. The deadlock remained in the balance until Nicolas Depoortere broke free to score two goals which became a breath of fresh air ten minutes before the final whistle. “It’s not perfect, but it’s a game you have to know how to win. We let the storm pass. Maybe we didn’t think they were so strong collectively”backed Louis Bielle-Biarrey at the TF1 microphone, while admitting to disparaging the selection who beat the Blues on home soil seven years ago.

The good news was the end of France XV’s four-game losing streak. Coach Fabien Galthié discovered circumstances that alleviated his team’s difficulties. “It was our second game, it was their tenth game in the Pacific Cup. They were more automatic because their season starts in June. We also lost two centers quickly.” (Pierre-Louis Barassi and his replacement Emilien Gailleton were both released under concussion protocol)“he insisted.

The latter did not want to draw conclusions after two matches and promised that his team would do so “best”, specifically in an offside position, for the third match of the autumn tour, next Saturday against Australia at the Stade de France.