France coach Fabien Galthie praised his team’s mentality following Saturday’s 30-29 victory over Australia at the Stade de France, which marked Les Bleus’ record 11th consecutive victory.
Damian Penaud’s late score delivered France a hard-fought victory against a squad that handled scrumhalf Antoine Dupont flawlessly. However, the winger’s run for his ninth try in the previous 11 games was just enough to seal the victory for the hosts.
“We were attempting to break a record from the 1930s. In modern rugby, winning 11 consecutive games is no minor feat, and I’m proud of the guys for going for it “said Galthie.
What a team 💙
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With a first team that had not played together since their Grand Slam in the Six Nations last March, France battled more than usual, but their self-assurance since Galthie took over as head coach in 2020 aided them tremendously.
Galthie stated, “We understood that two weeks of practice could not make up for all these months apart, especially against a team that has been playing together frequently recently.”
“It was a very difficult game, but we expected it to be close. I am quite proud of the boys because they never gave up.”
🔥 Quelle ambiance et quel plaisir de tous vous retrouver ce soir ! Merci pour le soutien et rendez-vous la semaine prochaine à Marseille ! 🔵⚪️🔴 #NeFaisonsXV pic.twitter.com/KEfzKvERZa
— Matthieu Jalibert (@MattJalibert) November 5, 2022
Australia scrumhalf Nic White remarked, “A great try at the end.” We will take away some lessons, but our initial reaction is devastation.
“We’ll examine the last ten minutes. Without going into excessive detail, we will learn something. We had some positives and were in the thick of things. We feel that we probably ought to have won.”
Last Saturday, Australia defeated Scotland 16-15 at Murrayfield after the Scots missed a late penalty, but this time the Wallabies were on the losing end of a close game.
“Although we could not obtain the victory, we had two consecutive strong performances. We will take the positives from our performance,” White stated.