Thanks for that, and sorry to have pointed out that one detail, while the rest of your video and especially your work is insanely qualitative. Your expertise and energy are amazing to watch!
Hi Tim ! You're spot on about the 12's weakness. Also, thank you to remind (or "for reminding"?) people that the calendar prevents the big team to tour NZ and the southern nations in summer. Some people keep on saying that Dupont is afraid to go against the ABs on their homesoil. How i wish too see France giving its all at Eden Park for the spectacle, but it's not possible for the moment. Score this year 6,5/7.
don't forget that at VI nations : Dupont(olympics preparation), N'tamack(hurt), jelonch didn't play at all, Meafou played the two last games only, Flament the three last games, Jalibert was hurt at some point, Aldritt too. the first match, Willemse took a a yellow card at the 7th min and a red card at the 30th minute. we played with no second row starters in the first two games. So basically, a transition tournament. .
Ntamack is just back, not at his best yet but he will be in january. Flament - Meafou is a fire partnership at Toulouse as well. Dupont - Ntamack will be back at full force if they're managed properly in the Champions cup and the top 14 and not playing too much. Alldriit is a question mark maybe. Ramos has played 100% of minutes this november, and almost all Toulouse games as well. He should be rested or he won't make it to the 6 nations. The centres is the big issue.
Ramos should have been resting this week but I hope that he will get more resting days and play less minutes (at least w Blair Kinghorn on the bench he will not have to do the full 80 minutes)
I like Antoine Frisch à lot as well but again he plays 13. France grade is 7/10 this test. Am expecting 8,5 next year with statement wins in Dublin and London
Tabernacle!!! Hope you'll understand my feeling about your whole analysis.... en résumé, 100% d'accord avec l'ensemble de tes points de vue et plus encore - la question du 12 est tellement juste - qui après Danty?. Tu donnes l'impression d'aimer l'équipe de France quasiment autant que celle de ton propre pays!!!? pour moi, c'est une preuve ultime ton amour pour le rugby et "le beau jeu", meaning "le panache". Am I all wrong? En attendant, tu es mon rugby utubeur (même si je n'aime pas le terme) number one, all nationalities included, et je pense pour un bon moment. All the best for you and your love for rugby. A deep friend of live...
Coming runners up in the '24 6Ns, with a "hangover", is no mean achievement. Right now, after those Autumnal Tests, I give Les Bleus 8.5/10. They'll be a handful in the forth-coming 6Ns, I reckon. We (Ireland) will have a job on our hands with them.
Even when we re really really good we tend to be restrictive in grading our players in France 😅 but if we can grind a win in Dublin next year, i il be happy to consider >8 😈 we ll see, ireland have been quite a handful for us thé last two 6N cycles… just hoping both team will be et full force
Look out for back row Mathis Castro Ferreira, Baille said that he'll be Toulouse's captain in the future and he is a freak at the age of 21. He should have been called for France but missed it due to injury a bit like Joshua Brennan
Tim I'm impressed with your french level (for an english man) love your work mate, I hope you'll have a reat christmass and new years eve all the best mate
@@EggchasersRugby Carbonnel is a 10. If I remember correctly, he was the 10 of the U20 frenchies that were world champions in 2017. (with N'tamack as a 12 by the way )
As french man I would say that only south Africa matches the quality and quantity of our depths. But the top 14 being what it is we can't use it as other nations do. When Galthie started in 2020 he held a big press conference to present his vision. He compared us with world cup winning nations un terms of team experience and for the next four years he tried to give experience to a limited squad. But our players are playing more than the others and the result was that ntk was out for the world cup and Dupont was not a his best for the most important match. And due to this strategy the staff was unconfident to send Lucu in the second half of the quarter final when Dupont was clearly losing lucidity. But there seems to be a change of strategy around this November series. More rotation, more players involved in training squad. And Galthie admitted during the press conference before Argentina that we have different constraints and environment and we will have to win another way and I liked that
Also french here, and I would give us a 6. Your analysis is spot on, I would only add the off the field antics that rocked the team this year as well, and this is why I´d take another point away : the summer tour marred with rape allegations, melvyn jaminet suspended for racism, jalibert returning to bordeaux during the november series. the staff doesn´t seem to have the same control they had when raphael ibanez was galthie´s assistant. And another point to add is the issue of injuries, which cost france dearly in the build-up to the world cup : losing ntamack, baille, willemse, danty in the warm-up matches. Is there an issue in the medical staff/analysis? Or is it season fatigue? Or just pure bad luck?
I would give them a 6/10 on 2024. With worrying winter and a positive autumn Even if the World Cup hangover and Dupont-Ntamack absence were expected for this last 6N, the tournament was quite disappointing with poor discipline and poor creativity in attack. Few good signs in the end with wins vs Wales and England The Argentina Tour was a good experience for the uncapped, but unfortunately was parasited by extra-rugby events in Mendoza. The Autumn Tour was much more interesting in term of mentality with the rise of talents like Boudehent, Bielle-Barrey, Meafou and the positive comebacks of Dupont, Ollivon, Villiere 2025 will be interesting to settle back the Dupont-Ntamack link, and find the perfect partner to Fickou. Danty being out-of-form, Costes, Depoortere, Gailleton, Moefana are all candidates.
For the last 7/8 years all I’ve heard from rugby fans and content creators is France are going to be “unstoppable “ yet they’ve won one six nations since 2010. They’re massively under achieving for a team with so much talent.
@@EggchasersRugbyit’s not even potential anymore though that was in 2016/17 when the current crop were breaking into the side. The current bunch of players have a huge amount of experience at test level and champions cup level too . Dupont ntamack Penaud etc have been regulars since 2019/2020 odd .
@@brianodriscoll2725 the last 3 or 4 Six Nations have been good for France. Only looking at the results is misleading. This year was bad for sure but the year before we only came second to a record-setting Irish squad, the year before it was the Grand Slam, and if I remember correctly we were second as well the year before that. Maybe not as overwhelming as some could have hoped but definitely not bad results.
From 2020 to 2023 we either won the tournament OR won vs the team that finished above us but did not gand slam bc of the BS refereeing happening somewhere else and robbing us. 4 exception to that are : 2023 and 2024 6N to ireland ( 2024 suffer no debate) but I still can't get over how bad ruck refereeing was in 2023 to save ireland life. 2023 RWC, once again very debatable call saving narrowly RSA from getting spanked (which is what would have happen. On a good refereeing this is a game france win by 21+pts ) 2020 autumn nation cup we lost the final to england, with a B team n by a single score, with referee doing litteraly anything possible to save the roses from humiliation in the last 10mins. Not our fault our team which is actually unstoppable by legal means, was stopped by our opponent 16th man each and every single time bc it's unbearrable to anglosphere rest of the sport that an non englsih speaking country is the king of the sport by litteraly 10 order of magnitude at club level , and by 2 or 3 order of magnitude in international play 🤷
The team that won the title in 2010 and made the final in 2011 was an aging team and increasingly irregular the future of the team has not been all was prepared
7 is ok , I'll give a 7.5 / 8 thanx to the last 2 games. strong defense is back ( thanx Sean ) and so are Villiere and Ollivon - although it's a 3 games away 6 nations next year , I think we'll do better than this year because we play Ireland in the 4th game ( or is it 3rd ) and start "slowly" against Wales.playing Ireland first has always been a problem for France , we just seem to never be ready for a first 6 nations game
Hi Tim, Frenchman here, I would have given us a 6. The Six Nations was dreadful and a (lucky) draw vs Italy is a professional fault for such a team. World Cup hangover is one thing but it doesn’t justify these atrocious performances. The lack of confidence was striking. It’s like we’ve missed the main thing about Dupont : his aura and ability to give confidence to his teammates. It was obvious at 7s and it proved too at 15. Totally agree with the 12 issue. Maybe the only position we don’t have any depth and any Danty-like player. That has totally changed our way of playing this autumn btw. Dupont animates brillantly around the rucks but once the defense is concentrated we go directly to our rocket LBB through cross kick and long pass and he does his thing. Centers don’t concentrate defense with massive penetration anymore, they are just used to clean rucks and coordinate defense (which they do well I have to acknowledge). Overall Galthié has everything in his hands to deliver. If we don’t win one or two six nations by the World Cup it will be an unbelievable failure. I’m not gonna say we should win the World Cup cause it’s gonna be yet again 1-score games vs the Boks or NZ and it could go either way but we should be, theoretically, even more competitive in 2027 than we were last year. And my prediction is that I think we’ll win the 6 nations this year but lose away to Twickenham.
I don't know which 6th Nations you've been watching but that's not only Dupont who was missing but like 7 key players which totally disrupted the team. Players who were used to playing together for years and all of a sudden Galthié had to build a makeshift team with new recruits (who luckily revealed themselves right away) but the team was not balanced at all and it showed. Ntamack, Dupont, Jelonch, Willemse, Danty who left the competition early, Villière, Bourgarit who played well at the WC, Flament. Moreover you totally underestimate Italy. They play well and bring difficulties to everyone now.
Very brilliant analysis ! Yes France was lucky all along the 6 Nations (after such an unlucky - to say the less - quarterfinal) but showed so much resilience and resistance especially after the introductory mess against Ireland. But South Africa succeeded in winning the WC for only 1 point at each game after all... Toulouse, UBB and La Rochelle are the backbone of Les Bleus. If they do not have too many players out because of the Top 14 hardships then they can compete with the 5 others nations. But these games away... Ireland has lost the Grand Slam at Twickenham at the last minute. It is hard to imagine they could lost vs England and France when at home. Scotland and England will call for revenge after their 2024 narrow losses. And Italy will be fired up after the draw in Paris and they do have a very good U20 team as well where they could pick up some talents to the upper level. Ireland is again the number 1 favorite. As far the whole year is concerned I am not expecting too much of the NZ tour. And it is too early to think of November. Thank you for your posts !
My only gripe with France is if they want to win the RWC2027 in Aus, they have to play there and tour the southern hemisphere. That team building is so important to go down to the SH for a proper test series with your best players in order to test yourselves. The clubs have a lot of power in France but why can’t there be a meeting halfway? Maybe take the best players every second year. Has Du Pont played in the SH? I have only seen a game with 25 minutes coming off the bench against RSA.
I would define the year into 3 period, and as as such, will divide my ratings : -6 Nations, 4.5/10. Could be harsher, but we do need to take into account the World Cup hangover, our main 9/10 pairing being out, and a new staff coming. Willemse *was* indeed red carded, but the game wasn't going well already. The results were disappointing, but the match against England was hopeful. Our defence was dreadful tho, and our scrum mediocre. Some of the more hyped players were also unavailable before the 6N, so it doesn't help. At least it forced Galthié to change some things in his way of coaching. -Summer series. Good results rugby-wise. Development team, beat Argentina and Uruguay, and gave a good showing during the last match. Honestly, without the Jegou/Auradou affair, I think it could have been an easy 8/10 from a sport pov. 2/10 from an outside sport pov. But the affair highlighted some big issues with french rugby and its relationship with alcohol (charges were dropped, but I really don't want to see these two idiots in the french team ever again, esp Jegou). With the Haouas affair, I don't think Galthié should take any risks anymore. As such, it turns into a 5/10 overall. -Autumn Series 8/10. Japan blown out, good result against Argentina (despite a period of lazyness from the players, you could see they didn't want to get injured before the match against NZ), great match against NZ. Honestly, it looked like an incoming drubbing during the first half, and like the team would collapse under the accumulared pressure of the year 2024. But they didn't, they made a good comeback and won. Grit-wise, I think we're back. I still have doubts about our attack and line-outs. Galthié seems to be outplayed more and more by the opposing coaches (at least in the early parts of a match). The main challenge now will be to stay consistently at the level of our 2022 form.
6/10. The French had a bad 6 nations despite finishing second; had a bad tour of Argentina, albeit off the pitch; and finished off the year well. With many players missing, they still held up against some big teams. Just wait until they are back to full force.
France is the only country in rugby that does not select players that qualify on residency. In 2017 they introduced the rule that in order to play for France, you have to be a French citizen. Despite the corruption charges, this was a good rule introduced by Bernard Laporte while he was president of the FFR. Tatafu has been in France since he joined the Bayonne academy, same as Meafou for Toulouse. They both had to become citizens to be able to be selected. The only player left in the team who was initially selected on residency (before 2017) is Atonio, and he's a citizen now too.
Slightly disagree with the mentality point Tim. I’d say it’s actually Dupont dependent unfortunately - we saw that in 6N, where no one stepped up as a leader. Time will tell about the hangover. For me, 6/10 for France but important to end on a positive after November results and performances. Interesting when you contrast to Ireland in that sense. Anyway, merci pour la content mon ami! 🥖
Fantastic analysis - pretty much agree 100% with everything. Pretty shit 6N (the result really flatters them), better performances in the autumn but not truly tested beyond NZ. Cant see us getting the slam in 2025, but quietly confident some key players (ramos, LBB, Meafou, etc) seem to be in rich form. DuPont was off colour in november (i.e. just really good as opposed to WTAF-how-is-this-possible usual standards) but had a monster of a game against Ulster, so fingers crossed form carries on in Feb.
So yeah - 7 I feel is a tad generous (if looking purely at performances vs the strength of the squad). Ce sera un 6 pour moi, mais j'espère un bon gros 9 et un Grand Chelem en 2025 😉
Hi Tim, I’m sorry to respectfully disagree on one aspect. My point is not to blame one player only but we looked much better in the VI nations when Nolan Le Garrec was brought in. It might just be the attacking coach getting his hands on the game. Who knows! But for sure we were a better team at the end of the tournament than at the beginning of it.
I’m not questioning the fact that the talent pool at center is way less deep that on most other positions. However galthié’s current system does not rely on this position at all offensively (fickou and Moefana are mostly asked to do 10+ tackles with a success rate above 90% but have a low number of received/ sent pass and low runnjng meters; fickou did better than moefana in november) In the end, it’s the egg or the chicken: i dont know whether galthié adapted to a foreseen lack of depth or if the system doesn’t allow guys like at the center position to shine
Ironically, IIRC Ntamack was voted best 12 of the Top14 in 2019-2020 season, but he is a better 10, especially working with Dupont. Maybe Danty current form will continue and he can come back filling the role at 12, but honestly, Depoortère is looking good for a 21yo, he might be world class at 25. This 6 nations (and the world cup) showed that Jalibert can't work with Galthié (no shade to Jalibert, he is one of the best 10 on the planet (and i'm a Ntamack fanboy) but his style is neither compatible with an association with Dupont or playing the Galthié's way imho), thus relegating Lucu to being at best the 3rd 9. Le garrec problem at 9 is that given the 10 in his club is Farrel, there is no natural association to play on for France, and given he won't have a lot of gametime in blue, it will be difficult to build a synergy with the main 10s, Ntamack and Ramos. Also i don't think there is a good replacement for those two outside of Jalibert, and that's a problem imho.
Are you sure about Merkler being available for France soon ? I thought it was ruled out as he has two nationalities (spanish/english) and played for Spain main squad not so long ago.
J'avais lu un article ou il était marqué qu'il n'était pas éligible pour l'EDF parce qu'il a déjà joué pour l'Espagne. Peut être que la règle a été modifiée mais j'en serai étonné
Pretty misleading to say they had a full bore team in the 6 nations when they were missing the best 9-10 combo in the world. Lucu & Jalibert started most of those games, neither would make a match day 23 now.
The fact you opened in French, makes me upset that you didn't so in Spanish for Argentina, Tim. You have a chance to redeem yourself for Italy, however. 😉
The match against Argentina. No, he was not even on the bench, due to the 6/2 split. There was one back replacement as a 9, the other as 15, 11, or 14. Dupont did play 10, when the replacement came. Jalibert was in the "reserve", players who stay in case of an injury during the warm-up of the beginners.
Based on performance, it would be barely average (5?) had they not beaten the All Blacks. This win saved their year, making it a 6.5 or 7 I guess. BUT hold on ! Looking at a bigger picture, this is one of the worst year for the FFR, considering the implication in Argentina of two players into a rape case (cleared up recently) and the loss of Medhi Narjissi, drowned in South Africa during a french under 20 team exercise. The investigation on those very serious accidents open a can of worms reflecting quite badly on many’s, the FFR as an organisation of course but also old and young players as a group, and for Galthie it was like being hit by a train ! Impossible not to consider these events in giving a rating to the french team. The whole team has to take it, and it has to be a 3.
France 6 nations should have been 2 wins and 3 losses, they got lucky a little bit. Things changed when Galtier added some young and hungry players. They played much better against Wales and they played much better again against England. 2/10 for me because on paper they should have been stronger than that. Summer series were affected by the bad behavior of some players there. I thought rugby players were smarter than that. 5/10 for me for the B squad. Autumn series, 3 out of 3 with 3 solid performances. 10/10, they did the job and they did it well. 6/10 for the year.
salut jeanne mas (;-)), super nuance de ta part cf l'analyse de Tim que je trouve d"jà brillante pour l'essentiel. Les 3 séquences que tu précises me paraissent encore plus parlante pour décrire la performance de l'équipe de France sur l'année. Bravo à toi. Et es-tu d'accord avec Tim cf le potentiel, présent et futur, de l'équipe de France? Moi oui. Vive le rugby!!!
@@etienneherve396 They are the European team with the biggest potential imo for the next few years. They got so many amazing players for almost every position on the field. Talent is not everything in rugby so we'll see what they produce during the next few years and especially at the WC. I think they could be the best team in the 6 nations this year but then again, maybe they won't be.
I think if you gave à 4 to England, you should give us a 6 at most, Tim ^^' As you said, our 6 nations was worst than our final result shows and out summer tour was terrible (for reasons outside of the pitch though). We got a good autumn series but that's it for 2024. Anyways, your French is very good, apreciate the effort =) ❤
Joel Merkler can't qualify for France on residency, he played for Spain already and you can only switch side based on ancestry - so the only team he could switch to would be England.
OK sorry but I can't stand this kind of comments. Top 14 is our everyday bread and we love it. You wanna talk about the RWC? Well: 1995? Political defeat in semis. 2011? Joubert wouldn't give a penalty try. 2023? O'Keefe and his very bad TMO was on our way. The WR just doesn't want us to win. Maybe now that we are the only one bringing money, who knows ... It sounds conspiracional? And what about RSA that don't comply to the antidopping agency as the others do? Why is that? Why are they even admitted in competitions?
1st😂 Now, that's out of the way. France is IRB's favourite child. If the team isn't winning, the individuals are given some accolades to make up for the failures of the team.
I give the chicken team a big round egg out of 10. All the eggs were in the '23 RWC basket, and after that failure it's all down hill. Already the team bosses are calling for an urgent reduction in player salary caps to try remain sustainable, and once those cracks start to appear it's tough to patch up without slowing down. By 2027 most of the league would have degraded away, there will be player sulks and strikes, and getting out of the group stages at the RWC will be an achievement for the chicken team.
Classy comment, and clearly far away from the current metrics, which shows growing intrest in rugby in the country. But it's clearly a rant so what's the point...
@@Impl0ze93 I like the way you spelled interest ... it means I can take the rest of your reply in the same 'poorly educated effort' kinda way. Call me a liar on any of these ... 1) France failed to win the RWC 2) National team performances dropped in 2024 3) Top14 bosses are urgently looking to reduce the salary cap to try balance the books 4) France currently has a caretaker running the country 5) France regularly tops the annual highest number of strike days lost from the workplace 6) French rugby has been trending news headlines for rape, violence and racism charges against players, and yet the FFR president was simply re-elected. Remember to check your facts and spelling if you want to be credible.
Error on the Wales score - my mistake! Desolé!
Thanks for that, and sorry to have pointed out that one detail, while the rest of your video and especially your work is insanely qualitative. Your expertise and energy are amazing to watch!
C'est pas grave Tim.
Ce n'est pas grave... l'erreur est humaine
Great content fréro
Your French is getting better Tim. Are you planning to join us together with Jack Ouillis ? 😂
On dit "Jacques Ouillisse" 😂
You mean Jacques Houillisse?
@@laurentorjas6650 exactly. In that case the imaginary H is silent :-)
That's Jacques Ouillis to you, merci.
Merci pour cette super vidéo Chasseur d'oeuf 🤝
Hi Tim ! You're spot on about the 12's weakness.
Also, thank you to remind (or "for reminding"?) people that the calendar prevents the big team to tour NZ and the southern nations in summer. Some people keep on saying that Dupont is afraid to go against the ABs on their homesoil. How i wish too see France giving its all at Eden Park for the spectacle, but it's not possible for the moment.
Score this year 6,5/7.
don't forget that at VI nations : Dupont(olympics preparation), N'tamack(hurt), jelonch didn't play at all, Meafou played the two last games only, Flament the three last games, Jalibert was hurt at some point, Aldritt too. the first match, Willemse took a a yellow card at the 7th min and a red card at the 30th minute. we played with no second row starters in the first two games. So basically, a transition tournament. .
Ntamack is just back, not at his best yet but he will be in january.
Flament - Meafou is a fire partnership at Toulouse as well.
Dupont - Ntamack will be back at full force if they're managed properly in the Champions cup and the top 14 and not playing too much.
Alldriit is a question mark maybe.
Ramos has played 100% of minutes this november, and almost all Toulouse games as well. He should be rested or he won't make it to the 6 nations.
The centres is the big issue.
Nicolas Depoortère (Bordeaux) looks a great prospect. Another 21 year old who made his debut this year.
Ramos should have been resting this week but I hope that he will get more resting days and play less minutes (at least w Blair Kinghorn on the bench he will not have to do the full 80 minutes)
I like Antoine Frisch à lot as well but again he plays 13.
France grade is 7/10 this test.
Am expecting 8,5 next year with statement wins in Dublin and London
I could see Barassi to fill in the gap we have at 12, he seems in a tremendous form, would love to see him picked in the 6N !
Tim France pumped wales they scored 45 points in that game just a little correction. Great content as always watching from Pau Honha section💪💪💪
quite right. Apologies!
Bravo Tim, j’adore ta chaîne
Tabernacle!!! Hope you'll understand my feeling about your whole analysis.... en résumé, 100% d'accord avec l'ensemble de tes points de vue et plus encore - la question du 12 est tellement juste - qui après Danty?. Tu donnes l'impression d'aimer l'équipe de France quasiment autant que celle de ton propre pays!!!? pour moi, c'est une preuve ultime ton amour pour le rugby et "le beau jeu", meaning "le panache". Am I all wrong? En attendant, tu es mon rugby utubeur (même si je n'aime pas le terme) number one, all nationalities included, et je pense pour un bon moment. All the best for you and your love for rugby. A deep friend of live...
Coming runners up in the '24 6Ns, with a "hangover", is no mean achievement. Right now, after those Autumnal Tests, I give Les Bleus 8.5/10. They'll be a handful in the forth-coming 6Ns, I reckon. We (Ireland) will have a job on our hands with them.
Even when we re really really good we tend to be restrictive in grading our players in France 😅 but if we can grind a win in Dublin next year, i il be happy to consider >8 😈 we ll see, ireland have been quite a handful for us thé last two 6N cycles… just hoping both team will be et full force
Im French, but I think that you are way too generous. Maybe 6/10, not more.
Look out for back row Mathis Castro Ferreira, Baille said that he'll be Toulouse's captain in the future and he is a freak at the age of 21. He should have been called for France but missed it due to injury a bit like Joshua Brennan
As a french, you are a great channel of rugby. l love to hear you to improve my english
Tim I'm impressed with your french level (for an english man) love your work mate, I hope you'll have a reat christmass and new years eve all the best mate
Merci! And to you!
Awesome Tim! Merci;)
Hi Tim , it's Carbonneau not Carbonnel at Brive , Carbonnel is at Stade Français
Correct. So many 9s!!
@@EggchasersRugby Carbonnel is a 10.
If I remember correctly, he was the 10 of the U20 frenchies that were world champions in 2017. (with N'tamack as a 12 by the way )
As french man I would say that only south Africa matches the quality and quantity of our depths. But the top 14 being what it is we can't use it as other nations do. When Galthie started in 2020 he held a big press conference to present his vision. He compared us with world cup winning nations un terms of team experience and for the next four years he tried to give experience to a limited squad. But our players are playing more than the others and the result was that ntk was out for the world cup and Dupont was not a his best for the most important match. And due to this strategy the staff was unconfident to send Lucu in the second half of the quarter final when Dupont was clearly losing lucidity. But there seems to be a change of strategy around this November series. More rotation, more players involved in training squad. And Galthie admitted during the press conference before Argentina that we have different constraints and environment and we will have to win another way and I liked that
Great video again 👍 et ton français est plutôt bon 😁🇫🇷
Also french here, and I would give us a 6. Your analysis is spot on, I would only add the off the field antics that rocked the team this year as well, and this is why I´d take another point away : the summer tour marred with rape allegations, melvyn jaminet suspended for racism, jalibert returning to bordeaux during the november series. the staff doesn´t seem to have the same control they had when raphael ibanez was galthie´s assistant. And another point to add is the issue of injuries, which cost france dearly in the build-up to the world cup : losing ntamack, baille, willemse, danty in the warm-up matches. Is there an issue in the medical staff/analysis? Or is it season fatigue? Or just pure bad luck?
I would give them a 6/10 on 2024. With worrying winter and a positive autumn
Even if the World Cup hangover and Dupont-Ntamack absence were expected for this last 6N, the tournament was quite disappointing with poor discipline and poor creativity in attack. Few good signs in the end with wins vs Wales and England
The Argentina Tour was a good experience for the uncapped, but unfortunately was parasited by extra-rugby events in Mendoza.
The Autumn Tour was much more interesting in term of mentality with the rise of talents like Boudehent, Bielle-Barrey, Meafou and the positive comebacks of Dupont, Ollivon, Villiere
2025 will be interesting to settle back the Dupont-Ntamack link, and find the perfect partner to Fickou. Danty being out-of-form, Costes, Depoortere, Gailleton, Moefana are all candidates.
Great video as always
For the last 7/8 years all I’ve heard from rugby fans and content creators is France are going to be “unstoppable “ yet they’ve won one six nations since 2010.
They’re massively under achieving for a team with so much talent.
I think I emphasise *potential a number of times in this video. Big leap to reality.
@@EggchasersRugbyit’s not even potential anymore though that was in 2016/17 when the current crop were breaking into the side.
The current bunch of players have a huge amount of experience at test level and champions cup level too .
Dupont ntamack Penaud etc have been regulars since 2019/2020 odd .
@@brianodriscoll2725 the last 3 or 4 Six Nations have been good for France. Only looking at the results is misleading. This year was bad for sure but the year before we only came second to a record-setting Irish squad, the year before it was the Grand Slam, and if I remember correctly we were second as well the year before that. Maybe not as overwhelming as some could have hoped but definitely not bad results.
From 2020 to 2023 we either won the tournament OR won vs the team that finished above us but did not gand slam bc of the BS refereeing happening somewhere else and robbing us.
4 exception to that are :
2023 and 2024 6N to ireland ( 2024 suffer no debate) but I still can't get over how bad ruck refereeing was in 2023 to save ireland life.
2023 RWC, once again very debatable call saving narrowly RSA from getting spanked (which is what would have happen. On a good refereeing this is a game france win by 21+pts )
2020 autumn nation cup we lost the final to england, with a B team n by a single score, with referee doing litteraly anything possible to save the roses from humiliation in the last 10mins.
Not our fault our team which is actually unstoppable by legal means, was stopped by our opponent 16th man each and every single time bc it's unbearrable to anglosphere rest of the sport that an non englsih speaking country is the king of the sport by litteraly 10 order of magnitude at club level , and by 2 or 3 order of magnitude in international play
🤷
The team that won the title in 2010 and made the final in 2011 was an aging team and increasingly irregular the future of the team has not been all was prepared
7 is ok , I'll give a 7.5 / 8 thanx to the last 2 games. strong defense is back ( thanx Sean ) and so are Villiere and Ollivon - although it's a 3 games away 6 nations next year , I think we'll do better than this year because we play Ireland in the 4th game ( or is it 3rd ) and start "slowly" against Wales.playing Ireland first has always been a problem for France , we just seem to never be ready for a first 6 nations game
I hope the predictions about a strong French team for the next RWC will turn out correct - about time the French lift their first Webb Ellis cup.
Hi Tim,
Frenchman here, I would have given us a 6.
The Six Nations was dreadful and a (lucky) draw vs Italy is a professional fault for such a team. World Cup hangover is one thing but it doesn’t justify these atrocious performances.
The lack of confidence was striking. It’s like we’ve missed the main thing about Dupont : his aura and ability to give confidence to his teammates. It was obvious at 7s and it proved too at 15.
Totally agree with the 12 issue. Maybe the only position we don’t have any depth and any Danty-like player.
That has totally changed our way of playing this autumn btw. Dupont animates brillantly around the rucks but once the defense is concentrated we go directly to our rocket LBB through cross kick and long pass and he does his thing. Centers don’t concentrate defense with massive penetration anymore, they are just used to clean rucks and coordinate defense (which they do well I have to acknowledge).
Overall Galthié has everything in his hands to deliver.
If we don’t win one or two six nations by the World Cup it will be an unbelievable failure.
I’m not gonna say we should win the World Cup cause it’s gonna be yet again 1-score games vs the Boks or NZ and it could go either way but we should be, theoretically, even more competitive in 2027 than we were last year.
And my prediction is that I think we’ll win the 6 nations this year but lose away to Twickenham.
I don't know which 6th Nations you've been watching but that's not only Dupont who was missing but like 7 key players which totally disrupted the team. Players who were used to playing together for years and all of a sudden Galthié had to build a makeshift team with new recruits (who luckily revealed themselves right away) but the team was not balanced at all and it showed.
Ntamack, Dupont, Jelonch, Willemse, Danty who left the competition early, Villière, Bourgarit who played well at the WC, Flament.
Moreover you totally underestimate Italy. They play well and bring difficulties to everyone now.
Very brilliant analysis !
Yes France was lucky all along the 6 Nations (after such an unlucky - to say the less - quarterfinal) but showed so much resilience and resistance especially after the introductory mess against Ireland.
But South Africa succeeded in winning the WC for only 1 point at each game after all...
Toulouse, UBB and La Rochelle are the backbone of Les Bleus. If they do not have too many players out because of the Top 14 hardships then they can compete with the 5 others nations.
But these games away... Ireland has lost the Grand Slam at Twickenham at the last minute. It is hard to imagine they could lost vs England and France when at home. Scotland and England will call for revenge after their 2024 narrow losses. And Italy will be fired up after the draw in Paris and they do have a very good U20 team as well where they could pick up some talents to the upper level.
Ireland is again the number 1 favorite.
As far the whole year is concerned I am not expecting too much of the NZ tour. And it is too early to think of November.
Thank you for your posts !
Super accent Tim!!!
My only gripe with France is if they want to win the RWC2027 in Aus, they have to play there and tour the southern hemisphere. That team building is so important to go down to the SH for a proper test series with your best players in order to test yourselves. The clubs have a lot of power in France but why can’t there be a meeting halfway? Maybe take the best players every second year. Has Du Pont played in the SH? I have only seen a game with 25 minutes coming off the bench against RSA.
Great accent at the early of the video 😀
I would define the year into 3 period, and as as such, will divide my ratings :
-6 Nations, 4.5/10. Could be harsher, but we do need to take into account the World Cup hangover, our main 9/10 pairing being out, and a new staff coming. Willemse *was* indeed red carded, but the game wasn't going well already. The results were disappointing, but the match against England was hopeful. Our defence was dreadful tho, and our scrum mediocre. Some of the more hyped players were also unavailable before the 6N, so it doesn't help. At least it forced Galthié to change some things in his way of coaching.
-Summer series. Good results rugby-wise. Development team, beat Argentina and Uruguay, and gave a good showing during the last match. Honestly, without the Jegou/Auradou affair, I think it could have been an easy 8/10 from a sport pov. 2/10 from an outside sport pov.
But the affair highlighted some big issues with french rugby and its relationship with alcohol (charges were dropped, but I really don't want to see these two idiots in the french team ever again, esp Jegou). With the Haouas affair, I don't think Galthié should take any risks anymore. As such, it turns into a 5/10 overall.
-Autumn Series 8/10. Japan blown out, good result against Argentina (despite a period of lazyness from the players, you could see they didn't want to get injured before the match against NZ), great match against NZ. Honestly, it looked like an incoming drubbing during the first half, and like the team would collapse under the accumulared pressure of the year 2024. But they didn't, they made a good comeback and won. Grit-wise, I think we're back.
I still have doubts about our attack and line-outs. Galthié seems to be outplayed more and more by the opposing coaches (at least in the early parts of a match). The main challenge now will be to stay consistently at the level of our 2022 form.
Nicely put, I agree
the game against Argentina was after the one against NZ
@kropotkine9640 Oh yeah my bad I forgot.
I give them a 7/10, was 6 but changed purely because of that win v AB’s.
6/10. The French had a bad 6 nations despite finishing second; had a bad tour of Argentina, albeit off the pitch; and finished off the year well. With many players missing, they still held up against some big teams. Just wait until they are back to full force.
France is the only country in rugby that does not select players that qualify on residency. In 2017 they introduced the rule that in order to play for France, you have to be a French citizen. Despite the corruption charges, this was a good rule introduced by Bernard Laporte while he was president of the FFR. Tatafu has been in France since he joined the Bayonne academy, same as Meafou for Toulouse. They both had to become citizens to be able to be selected. The only player left in the team who was initially selected on residency (before 2017) is Atonio, and he's a citizen now too.
Slightly disagree with the mentality point Tim. I’d say it’s actually Dupont dependent unfortunately - we saw that in 6N, where no one stepped up as a leader. Time will tell about the hangover. For me, 6/10 for France but important to end on a positive after November results and performances.
Interesting when you contrast to Ireland in that sense.
Anyway, merci pour la content mon ami! 🥖
Fantastic analysis - pretty much agree 100% with everything. Pretty shit 6N (the result really flatters them), better performances in the autumn but not truly tested beyond NZ. Cant see us getting the slam in 2025, but quietly confident some key players (ramos, LBB, Meafou, etc) seem to be in rich form. DuPont was off colour in november (i.e. just really good as opposed to WTAF-how-is-this-possible usual standards) but had a monster of a game against Ulster, so fingers crossed form carries on in Feb.
So yeah - 7 I feel is a tad generous (if looking purely at performances vs the strength of the squad). Ce sera un 6 pour moi, mais j'espère un bon gros 9 et un Grand Chelem en 2025 😉
France is just France, I'd love to see a full ball team on the southern tours, 5.5/10
And again I'm sorry but dupont is over rated
CASUAL
Hi Tim,
I’m sorry to respectfully disagree on one aspect. My point is not to blame one player only but we looked much better in the VI nations when Nolan Le Garrec was brought in.
It might just be the attacking coach getting his hands on the game. Who knows! But for sure we were a better team at the end of the tournament than at the beginning of it.
I’m not questioning the fact that the talent pool at center is way less deep that on most other positions.
However galthié’s current system does not rely on this position at all offensively (fickou and Moefana are mostly asked to do 10+ tackles with a success rate above 90% but have a low number of received/ sent pass and low runnjng meters; fickou did better than moefana in november)
In the end, it’s the egg or the chicken: i dont know whether galthié adapted to a foreseen lack of depth or if the system doesn’t allow guys like at the center position to shine
France have always had a young squad. I remember they were sacrificing the 2019 RWC for the 2023 RWC
Ironically, IIRC Ntamack was voted best 12 of the Top14 in 2019-2020 season, but he is a better 10, especially working with Dupont.
Maybe Danty current form will continue and he can come back filling the role at 12, but honestly, Depoortère is looking good for a 21yo, he might be world class at 25.
This 6 nations (and the world cup) showed that Jalibert can't work with Galthié (no shade to Jalibert, he is one of the best 10 on the planet (and i'm a Ntamack fanboy) but his style is neither compatible with an association with Dupont or playing the Galthié's way imho), thus relegating Lucu to being at best the 3rd 9.
Le garrec problem at 9 is that given the 10 in his club is Farrel, there is no natural association to play on for France, and given he won't have a lot of gametime in blue, it will be difficult to build a synergy with the main 10s, Ntamack and Ramos. Also i don't think there is a good replacement for those two outside of Jalibert, and that's a problem imho.
6.5/10 because no title but win against AB's , difficult year at the begining... but getting better
Are you sure about Merkler being available for France soon ? I thought it was ruled out as he has two nationalities (spanish/english) and played for Spain main squad not so long ago.
J'avais lu un article ou il était marqué qu'il n'était pas éligible pour l'EDF parce qu'il a déjà joué pour l'Espagne. Peut être que la règle a été modifiée mais j'en serai étonné
Pretty misleading to say they had a full bore team in the 6 nations when they were missing the best 9-10 combo in the world. Lucu & Jalibert started most of those games, neither would make a match day 23 now.
There is an error in your table. The result Wales-France was 24-45 and not 23-22.
The fact you opened in French, makes me upset that you didn't so in Spanish for Argentina, Tim. You have a chance to redeem yourself for Italy, however. 😉
waiting for Japan 😇
A small mistake - they won 45 to 24 with Wales in Cardiff.
In France we call Louis Bielle Barrey as LBB, it’s much easier ! 😊
I don't think this is right, I remember them crushing Wales, 23/22? I think it was 45/22.
Pinned comment acknowledges that. My mistake.
Speaking of mutiny, didn’t Jalibert refuse to sit on the bench behind Ramos in the Autumn Nations?
The match against Argentina. No, he was not even on the bench, due to the 6/2 split. There was one back replacement as a 9, the other as 15, 11, or 14. Dupont did play 10, when the replacement came. Jalibert was in the "reserve", players who stay in case of an injury during the warm-up of the beginners.
@ no, it was the game against the All Blacks. Look it up. There was a lot of press about it.
6 for me
Van der Mesch said last year that he would like to play for France...
Les bleus will win the 6 Nations
Based on performance, it would be barely average (5?) had they not beaten the All Blacks. This win saved their year, making it a 6.5 or 7 I guess. BUT hold on ! Looking at a bigger picture, this is one of the worst year for the FFR, considering the implication in Argentina of two players into a rape case (cleared up recently) and the loss of Medhi Narjissi, drowned in South Africa during a french under 20 team exercise. The investigation on those very serious accidents open a can of worms reflecting quite badly on many’s, the FFR as an organisation of course but also old and young players as a group, and for Galthie it was like being hit by a train ! Impossible not to consider these events in giving a rating to the french team. The whole team has to take it, and it has to be a 3.
France 6 nations should have been 2 wins and 3 losses, they got lucky a little bit. Things changed when Galtier added some young and hungry players. They played much better against Wales and they played much better again against England. 2/10 for me because on paper they should have been stronger than that.
Summer series were affected by the bad behavior of some players there. I thought rugby players were smarter than that. 5/10 for me for the B squad.
Autumn series, 3 out of 3 with 3 solid performances. 10/10, they did the job and they did it well.
6/10 for the year.
salut jeanne mas (;-)), super nuance de ta part cf l'analyse de Tim que je trouve d"jà brillante pour l'essentiel. Les 3 séquences que tu précises me paraissent encore plus parlante pour décrire la performance de l'équipe de France sur l'année. Bravo à toi. Et es-tu d'accord avec Tim cf le potentiel, présent et futur, de l'équipe de France? Moi oui. Vive le rugby!!!
@@etienneherve396 They are the European team with the biggest potential imo for the next few years. They got so many amazing players for almost every position on the field. Talent is not everything in rugby so we'll see what they produce during the next few years and especially at the WC. I think they could be the best team in the 6 nations this year but then again, maybe they won't be.
Bok fan here, patiently waiting for our A* report card.
Thanks for the content, Mr. Tim Coetzee. 🇿🇦
Im French and I will give them 5,5/10 to 6/10 at best.
Would northern hemisphere grizzle if All Blacks sent second team up in Autumn series?
no
Could they win the 2027 World Cup? Or - are they like Ireland - and have a mental block?
Not stuck on quarters… just last step is missing
@@tanukishinryu8856 France reached the finals 3 times, plus reached the 3rd place in 95. So yeah, definitely not stuck in the quarters
I think if you gave à 4 to England, you should give us a 6 at most, Tim ^^'
As you said, our 6 nations was worst than our final result shows and out summer tour was terrible (for reasons outside of the pitch though).
We got a good autumn series but that's it for 2024.
Anyways, your French is very good, apreciate the effort =) ❤
??/10 Is a fair assessement imo.
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Scotland to win the 6 nations this year !
Merkler is Spanish International "unfortunately"
Just as Willis, Merkler can't play for France. He already played for Spain and you cannot switch eligibility on residency.
I know there was some confusion around this. Makes sense.
Also good news for me, selfishly, as his father is English, so he COULD wear the rose!
Joel Merkler can't qualify for France on residency, he played for Spain already and you can only switch side based on ancestry - so the only team he could switch to would be England.
Next idea, Do a video of the national teams who gave the most opportunities to players this year .
9./10
great team domestic make money weakens national team match temprement
Grand slam this year
🐸
International rugby is bigger and better than Top14 if France feel otherwise that's why they'll never win a WC
OK sorry but I can't stand this kind of comments. Top 14 is our everyday bread and we love it. You wanna talk about the RWC? Well: 1995? Political defeat in semis. 2011? Joubert wouldn't give a penalty try. 2023? O'Keefe and his very bad TMO was on our way.
The WR just doesn't want us to win. Maybe now that we are the only one bringing money, who knows ...
It sounds conspiracional?
And what about RSA that don't comply to the antidopping agency as the others do? Why is that? Why are they even admitted in competitions?
@nicolasmaligner8753 can't stand comments like this but bring up refs and doping? Yuck
@malibongwebalinga
there is no one more blind than he who refuses to see.
my pick for 2027
1st😂
Now, that's out of the way. France is IRB's favourite child. If the team isn't winning, the individuals are given some accolades to make up for the failures of the team.
T'es jaloux ?
If it was the case 3 WC would have been for France…
Best joke of the year xD
Saffa?
I give the chicken team a big round egg out of 10.
All the eggs were in the '23 RWC basket, and after that failure it's all down hill.
Already the team bosses are calling for an urgent reduction in player salary caps to try remain sustainable, and once those cracks start to appear it's tough to patch up without slowing down. By 2027 most of the league would have degraded away, there will be player sulks and strikes, and getting out of the group stages at the RWC will be an achievement for the chicken team.
Classy comment, and clearly far away from the current metrics, which shows growing intrest in rugby in the country. But it's clearly a rant so what's the point...
😂😂😂
@@Impl0ze93 I like the way you spelled interest ... it means I can take the rest of your reply in the same 'poorly educated effort' kinda way.
Call me a liar on any of these ...
1) France failed to win the RWC
2) National team performances dropped in 2024
3) Top14 bosses are urgently looking to reduce the salary cap to try balance the books
4) France currently has a caretaker running the country
5) France regularly tops the annual highest number of strike days lost from the workplace
6) French rugby has been trending news headlines for rape, violence and racism charges against players, and yet the FFR president was simply re-elected.
Remember to check your facts and spelling if you want to be credible.
What a bleak outlook 🤣
Take your pill and go to bed.
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