Former France coach Philippe Saint-André says Fabien Galthié has more talent at his disposal than any previous Les Bleus boss.
After three successive victories, France travel to Edinburgh on Saturday knowing that a bonus-point victory would be enough to retain their Six Nations title, while also ensuring their Grand Slam dream remains intact.
That is a far cry from Saint-André‘s four years in charge, when France never finished above fourth and even took home the wooden spoon in 2013.
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“We have an incredible squad and a depth which is very well managed by Fabien Galthié,” said Saint-André, who currently coaches Provence Rugby in the French second division.
“The French team has often been lacking at scrumhalf or has had complex debates over the flyhalf position,” he added.
But current captain and scrumhalf Antoine Dupont is considered by many to be the world’s best player.
At flyhalf, France can pick from Romain Ntamack, who is currently injured, Matthieu Jalibert, who started against Ireland and Wales, and fullback Thomas Ramos, who was picked in the No 10 jersey against Italy.
Ramos has played at flyhalf in seven of his 50 caps, with France winning each time.
“Jalibert was exceptional at the start of the Six Nations. He is walking on water with Bordeaux Bègles,” said Saint-André.
“His link-up play with Antoine Dupont in the early part of the tournament has been excellent.
“Two incredibly talented players, very gifted, but who play for the team.”
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Saint-André is also particularly impressed with Ramos’s “maturity, creativity and leadership”.
“Maybe the position where we’re most lacking is tighthead prop, but otherwise, never before has a French rugby coach had so much natural talent to choose from in every position.”
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New Zealand-born veteran tighthead Uini Atonio was forced to retire before the tournament after suffering a heart attack, and Dorian Aldegheri struggled badly in the scrum against Italy.
French rugby is also benefitting from a structural overhaul since Saint-Andre was France coach from 2011-2015.
The French coach is now given more time to prepare his team, players are given more time to rest and there is a wider talent pool at clubs to pick from.
“But be careful, we haven’t won the Grand Slam yet, and I think the match against Scotland will be the toughest,” warned Saint-André.
Someone who is not getting carried away is fellow former coach Pierre Berbizier.
He led France to the 1993 Five Nations championship – before Italy joined the tournament – when winger Saint-André finished as top try-scorer.
“France have done what they needed to do. They have taken all the points available and are top of the table,” Berbizier said.
“So, they head into the end of the tournament relatively calmly, unlike the other teams who are asking themselves questions,” he added.
“But beware of Scotland, that match could tell us a lot.”
Under Galthié, France have been a free-scoring machine with more than four tries per match over the last seven Six Nations tournaments.
In the decade that preceded his appointment in 2020 – under Marc Lièvremont, Saint-André and Jacques Brunel – they were scoring less than two.
Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Theo Attissogbe and the dropped Damien Penaud, France’s record try-scorer, have the three highest try-per-match ratios of any French players in history.
Charles Ollivon became France’s top-scoring forward earlier in the Six Nations.
Berbizier, though, believes that such statistics have been “inflated” by racking up points exploiting the “weaknesses” of a Welsh team that has lost 24 of their last 26 Tests.
“When you look at the last match, there was definitely an element of luck involved,” Berbizier added about the 33-8 victory over Italy, where France pounced on a fumbled catch and an overthrown lineout to burst into a 19-0 lead.
“Luck often favours dominant teams but, at the same time, we didn’t control the game.”
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– AFP
Photo: David Rogers/Getty Images
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