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24 days later: Fabien Galthie breaks silence on France World Cup exit
By Ian Cameron
France head coach Fabien Galthie has described Les Bleus’s quarter-final exit from the Rugby World Cup as a scar that he and his team will carry for life.
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France were dumped out of their own tournament following a 29-28 loss to eventual winners South Africa but barring a short post-match press conference immediately after the loss, Galthie chose not to talk to the media again in the aftermath.
Until yesterday.
Having alerted the French media of the conference last week, Gatlhie opened up about the devastating loss and where he believes things may have gone wrong.
“There was time to grieve, to digest a huge disappointment. I’m talking about me, about us,” said Galthie. “There were 4 years of hard and successful work, 4 years of development, 4 months of preparation. Our goal was to be world champion. The disappointment would be the same as losing in the semi or final by one point.”
It was a loss that deflated the nation, many of whom believed that this was the year for rugby’s perennial World Cup nearly men to finally get their hands on the Webb Ellis Cup.
“We wanted to experience those moments. […] We spoke with the staff, the starting staff, the players, know how everyone was doing. I would say that the word that comes back is acceptance, the acceptance of defeat. And then, we have to go beyond that. 24 days is not a lot but it’s the sport of the highest level.
“We are all responsible for our careers. The performance of each other will make our destiny be that or another. I had planned to express myself later, but faced with the insistence and the requests, I decided to accelerate the process to share with you this pain and the immense pain of our supporters, of our families, players and France. […] By returning to contact with families and real life, I realized how the French loved us, and I speak in the imperfect and I could speak in the present tense. That is not going to give us the title of world champion.”
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“It’s painful at first but when you play at this level, when you play for the France team, you have to be ready to win but also to experience what you have experienced. There is only team that is not in pain is the champion. The others only experience unpleasant emotions. Having spoken about it with the leaders, I think that the injury will leave us with a scar for life.
“We feel a lot of positive but also painful emotions. Having experienced many of them, it is never a handicap. If we ask ourselves the right questions, we can become even better. We have all done or will do an individual or collective introspection.”
Galthie said that tactically France got it right in that they created more than enough attacking moments in South Africa’s 22, even if they failed to convert them. The Boks meanwhile, scored three tries from three opportunities.
“We entered the finishing zone 11 times, it was two times our objectives.
“At the end of the day, on the facts of the match, on the facts of the game, it was not enough. When we are the only team to have obtained so many potential highlight moments, it is because tactically you have not made a mistake on an offensive level.
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“South Africa has a ruck in our 22m in the 55′. They score three flash tries.
“South Africa should potentially score 24 and they score 29. And then they will reproduce it in the final.
“On a tactical level, if it was to do again, I will use the same strategy”.
He also confirmed that he sent 9 post-match video clips to World Rugby following the exit regarding the refereeing decisions, as is routine following significant Test matches.
“I worked with Jérôme Garces, with the referees, to question Joel Jutge and Ben O’Keeffe and his team. I sent them 9 clips to understand. The fifth day after the elimination, we were no longer an emergency for World Rugby which prepared the other matches.
“Before the match, we are used to sending out what concerns us and what concerns the opponent. We ask if it is tolerated and if it will be whistled. It was purely professional. I have rewatched it about ten times. I have a lot of data, I have cross-referenced a lot of information to be able to respond to you and the players.”
Only two things matter after the WC.
1) the TMO should not be allowed to call up the referee except where an injury is directly related to a fault. He should certainly not be allowed to call up after a score has happened without an injury caused by foul play. The decisions should be left to referees.
2) Kicking to touch should be banned inside one’s half, but only allowed after the ball has been passed back into in-goal.
France had the talent but not the killer instinct to beat the boks - a podcast recently described playing RSA like ‘fighting a raccoon’
Gotta be in it to win it - the French coach also forgot RSA was missing its starting hooker and outside centre. He also forgot to take out Dupont when FRA was up 60 points on Namibia before he lost his Captain and 9 in a pointless game at that time. Also he forgot to score when Eben got a yellow card
I hope FRA win in 2027 if RSA can’t - mostly b/c I thought the French were great hosts so here is some friendly advice.
1) Your backrow is soft - you need more mongrol in the 6,7,and 8 - they are too soft, a bit too tall in the breakdowns
2) Your locks are too light - Willemse coming back should help
3) Ntamack needs to beef up - he looks too light to survive a RWC
4) I think Dante and Feku (sp?) are crap - one is too slow and the other didnt do much in the tourney
South Africa had terrable calls against them in 2011 and 2015, you guys need to accept the loss, learn from it and move forward like we did. Seems like the All Black France and England fans and caoches are still whinging 🤣 Boks Rule
What a lot of crap about referees favoring various teams.Rugby is a complicated game with many rules, many of which are pretty stupid and inconsistent. Refs have many things to watch with players making mistakes or flouting rules. They have one pair of eyes. It is inevitable that at some times they will miss things or make wrong decisions, as the players do. None of them deliberately favor a team. The TMOs are the parties that should get it right , they have the benefit of hind sight and slow motion replays. However do we want them winding back the clock and calling a stopage for some missed infringement or wrong decision. In most games one team looses. Coaches in general at the RWC have been consistent and said they didn’t lose thru ref decisions but because their team did not make the most of the oppportunities to score that they created . Definitely the case iwith my team the ABs but also in the semis and QFs. If those match ups had been over or 4 test series the results may have been quite different. Leave off the refs without them we won’t have competitions like the RWC
Mr Galtie, I have tremendous respect for you as a great rugby legend and now as a top coach . You sound so emotional as one would expect from a Frenchman. The French Team were top notch and just missed victory by one point . Take it like a man . You were not good enough on the day . Stop blaming the officials , it will not reverse the decision. Please take your medication and take care
Jeez I mean it sounds like they thought they deserved to win the cup. I think theres a subtle difference between believing you will win and believing you deserve it. I dont know. Its just a game. Yes its tough to lose, but sounds like hes taking it really hard.
True the electric atmosphere disappeared in Paris after France and Ireland where beaten but for me the gigantic performance of the rugby warriors in the semi and final was just compelling. After 2 weeks I’m still missing rwc
I think Galthie is being kind sending only 9 contentious refereeing decisions (read blatant bias and favoritism) to WR. Nothing can be changed now but hopefully after the embarrassing knock-out performances from O'Keeffe and Barnes they will ease up on their mandate that all WR officials protect SA no matter what.
“The Boks meanwhile, scored three tries from three opportunities.”
The Boks scored four tries not three… Maybe Galthie should watch the game again? Or is this just the typical mental block Rugby Media around the world has when it comes to the fact that the Boks are a try scoring team, not just a kick and chase team like they so frequently say we are? They all forget that Arendse crossed the line in the final, for instance, just barely missed the try due to knock on, but hey only the All Blacks ever looked like scoring in that game right?