France Head Coach Fabien Galthie, has said how he would never have expected his side to have beaten England the way that they did. France humbled England with their heaviest ever defeat at Twickenham Stadium, in an emphatic 10-53 away victory for Les Bleus in the 2023 Guinness Six Nations last weekend.
Galthie spoke after the match, and could not believe what his side achieved at the home of English rugby. The 53-year-old was delighted with the result yet reminded his squad that they must not get ahead of themselves for the remaining Six Nations match against Wales, and upcoming Rugby World Cup on home soil.
“(We) Always take a bit of time to take a step back. Looking at the score we can be very proud of what we have achieved.
“I would never had thought that we would get the result we did today. I would never had dreamt these best scenarios like today. Its incredibly rare to win that way over here. We have to be incredibly proud of what we achieved today.
“We have to remember that, stay humble, but when I goes in our favour we have to be proud of it.”
Galthie recognised the magnitude of the victory. Twickenham has always been a fortress within the most decorated rugby stadia, and it is a monumental occasion when the fortress is demolished. The former scrum half spoke with intent in the post match media room, and re-called what he had told his players ahead of the 2023 instalment of ‘Le Crunch’.
“If you know about Twickenham, If you’ve been in Twickenham, you cant possibly imagine doing this. When you play in Twickenham, you feel like what you have been doing since you were a child, all those years of playing, makes sense.
“This is a stadium that rewards teams. When they give it their best, they get rewards. (We were) Brave, committed and out to win, and we were rewarded for that. Tonight we’ll have a beer in the hotel, and then we’ll continue. We’ve tripped and we’ve fallen (before), but now we’ve risen a great deal and we’ll continue this tomorrow.
Galthie’s squad is one of the youngest sides in the world. He recognises how the potential lack in experience is certainly made up for in the talent that they produce on the pitch. However, the youthful side can sometimes lack confidence when mistakes are made, which Galthie sees as only human.
“All these positive and negative experiences help us get better on this journey. The average is 25 caps, so quite young.”
“Well for sure physically were constantly getting better. Game after game, we are ramping up our game, in all forms and also physically. You can’t be too harsh on yourself if you make small mistakes during the games, and you can always get better.”