Rugby World Cup: The French XV traumatized the All Blacks

It had been many months since the players of the French XV had marked the date of September 8, the date of the opening match of the Rugby World Cup between the Blues and New Zealand. A shock at the Stade de France which turned in favor of Fabien Galthié’s players. The French XV was impressive and managed to gain the upper hand over the All Blacks. And among the New Zealanders, we fell from very high following this defeat.

By disputing the Rugby World Cup at home, the XV of France was eagerly awaited for this event. The pressure was present on the shoulders of the players of Fabien Galthié and it actually started with some very heavy stuff. Indeed, at the opening of the World Cup, the XV of France was opposed to the New Zealand. If the All Blacks have often taken the upper hand over the French in history, this time, that was not the case since the gang Antoine Dupont won (27-13).

EXCLUDED – XV of France: “Bielle-Biarrey? Some elders were kidding him” https://t.co/egGYZ1Y3XG pic.twitter.com/wmymGl8Swo

— le10sport (@le10sport) September 21, 2023

“After this defeat, the state of mind was quite low”

Number 15 of the New Zealand, Beauden Barrett was on the pitch at the Stade de France during this defeat of the All Blacks facing XV of France. And about this failure, he confided, reported by Rugby Rama : « After this defeat, the state of mind was quite low because we had much higher expectations. We wanted to win this confrontation. But as it was only a group match, we still have the opportunity to qualify for the quarter-finals. And that’s what matters most ».

“We have to win all our matches and that’s what we’re going to do”

« From now on, we have to win all our matches and that’s what we’re going to do. We have time ahead of us to continue to progress and raise our level of play, while having fun doing it. We are here to compete in an exciting competition, we have to take advantage of it because these things don’t last forever. (…) The World Cup is a very long competition. We train really hard, we have a lot of pressure. We must therefore have fun when possible, and manage to find the right balance while enjoying this stay in France, in the cities we visit. You have to know how to decompress », further added Beauden Barrett on this Rugby World Cup.