SM
Inter Milan vs. Como: 19 hrs 19 mins
Upcoming predictions and previews
Collect News Data
Rugby World Cup | Group Stage
Sep 8, 2023 at 8.15pm UK
 
France
27-13
New Zealand
Penaud (55'), Jaminet (78')
FT
Telea (2', 43')

Fabien Galthie: 'France were not ready for pressure of World Cup opener'

:Headline: Fabien Galthie: 'France were not ready for pressure of World Cup opener':
France head coach Fabien Galthie admits that his side were not ready for the pressure of opening their home World Cup against New Zealand, despite beating the All Blacks.
Sports Mole

France head coach Fabien Galthie has admitted that his side were not ready for the pressure of their Rugby World Cup opener on home soil, despite beating New Zealand at the Stade de France on Friday night.

The host nation saw their tournament get off to a nightmare start when New Zealand's Mark Telea scored the opening try after just 93 seconds, and things got even worse when Julien Marchand was forced off through injury 13 minutes in.

However, the boot of Thomas Ramos ensured that Les Bleus went into half time with a slender 9-8 lead, before an improved second-half showing saw them eventually run out 27-13 winners.

Tries from Damian Penaud and Melvyn Jaminet helped inflict a first-ever World Cup pool stage defeat on the All Blacks, and Galthie admitted that the win was a "relief" after what he saw as a nervy start.

"We were not expecting it to be so tense, even in the stands. We thought we were ready for that kind of pressure, but we were not," he told reporters after the match.

There was a lot of pressure in the first half. It took us time to relax and they scored quickly and easily. We lost Marchand early on. It was the worst possible scenario and even if we were ahead at the break, we did not control the game. But then we took back control.

"It will do us the world of good, this win. It is a relief and welcome."

France number eight Gregory Alldritt added: "It was a massive game for our team and I am proud to be French tonight.

"The support was massive and it is just fantastic to get support like this. We are just looking forward to the next game, but we said if we lost today it is not the end of the World Cup.

"But we are not champion now so we just have to keep working and go step by step."

New Zealand must now traverse unchartered territory having seen their previously-perfect record of 31 wins from 31 group games ended, but they are still heavily fancied to progress from a group that also contains Italy, Namibia and Uruguay.

"It was a hell of an opening match, everything we expected. We fired some good bullets at them, we just didn't fire enough," head coach Ian Foster told reporters.

"It doesn't change much for us, we just have to find another way out of this pool."

France are next in action against Uruguay on Thursday, while New Zealand take on Namibia one day later. body check tags ::

amp_article__523635 : Collect and Make Data not in DataBase  : 
last updated article - 2023-09-09 11:59:10:
html db last update - 2023-09-09 11:59:10 :

ex - 7200 : read : write cache and make html
Read more!

Click here for more stories about Fabien Galthie

Click here for more stories about France

Share this article now:


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!
Recommended Next on SM
2023 Rugby World Cup preview: Team-by-team guides including form, squads and predictions
Two Arsenal, two Liverpool: Sports Mole's Premier League Team of the Week
Rashford's future 'takes a fresh twist' as 'new favourite' for Man United star 'emerges'
Two birds, one transfer: Spurs eye 'dual benefit' January deal for Dortmund star
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool16123137162139
2Chelsea17105237191835
3Arsenal1796234161833
4Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest179442319431
5Bournemouth178452721628
6Aston Villa178452626028
7Manchester CityMan City178362925427
8Newcastle UnitedNewcastle177552721626
9Fulham176742422225
10Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton176742726125
11Tottenham HotspurSpurs1772839251423
12Brentford177283232023
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd176472122-122
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham175572230-820
15Everton163761421-716
16Crystal Palace173771826-816
17Leicester CityLeicester173592137-1614
18Wolverhampton WanderersWolves1733112740-1312
19Ipswich TownIpswich172691632-1612
20Southampton1713131136-256
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

history www

Two Arsenal, two Liverpool: Sports Mole's Premier League Team of the Week

1

TA

Top Premier League goalscorers of all time

NEW

2

TP

Liverpool's top goalscorers of all time

3

LT

Rashford's future 'takes a fresh twist' as 'new favourite' for Man United star 'emerges'

4

RF

Game of the season: Leaders Liverpool tear Tottenham apart in nine-goal spectacular

5

GO

'Everton draw better than Brentford win': Maresca delighted with Toffees stalemate

6

'D

No Rush? The maths behind Salah's pursuit of Liverpool record

7

NR

Kylian is back: Mbappe shines as Real Madrid beat Sevilla in six-goal thriller at Bernabeu

8

KI

A favour from an enemy: Liverpool receive huge title boost as Everton hold Chelsea

9

AF

How many records? Salah among history makers in Spurs-Liverpool thriller

10

HM


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .