The scrum half and captain of the Blues welcomed the “room for improvement” of the French XV, which ended its year with a victory against Argentina (37-23) on Friday at home.
What assessment do you draw from these three victories against Japan, New Zealand and Argentina?
Antoine Dupont. He is obviously very positive, with three victories against high quality opponents. But I think what is even more positive is our room for improvement. We win the All Blacks by a single point (30-29, Editor’s note), but I think that with a little more rigor, the gap could have been wider. And today we were at 30 to 9 at the break, after which there was a moment of relaxation. We will have things to work on to be even more ready one day for the Tournament (of the Six Nations, which will begin on January 31 against Wales at the Stade de France, Editor’s note).
In which areas can you progress?
We were talking about our offensive game, I think we can have more consistency. We knew how to be pragmatic, score with very little playing time, but our playing cells and everything we work on during the week, we have difficulty finding it at the weekend. It’s a bit of a shame, when we see the qualities we have, the offensive weapons we have, that we don’t have more cartridges to use them. Generally speaking, our defense was still positive. But we defended a lot over the three matches. We need to be able to have more attacking balls.
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The notes of the Blues after France-Argentina: hyperactive Ollivon, the rage of Villière
Like the team, I also have a lot of things that I can improve in the next matches.
Were you happy to find the Blues after a year of absence?
I think we were all happy to see each other again, obviously. Me maybe a little more since I left them a year ago. So there was a lot of enthusiasm, joy at finding the group, friends from the France team and impatience to play these matches. But I think that like the team, I also have a lot of things that I can improve in the next matches. But the state of mind is remarkable, the team is united and doesn’t give up. There is a real desire not to break up. It’s very foundational for the future.
Comments collected at a press conference
