Coach Jacques Brunel opted to make two substitutions before facing Fiji on Saturday (9:05 pm). A way to create "continuity" while involving as many players as possible for the World Cup in Japan, in less than a year. A "complicated" exercise, which aims to "give confidence and stability" to the backbone of the team of France.
On the establishment of a "typical" team: "A group is being built, we talked a lot of backbone, we try to give them this stability, this confidence to allow them to move forward, There are not many matches left, the players have to live together, to maintain a complicity, but it's complicated, because it forces to evict the project players, so it's binding. "
On the match against Fiji : "It's a trap game because we usually alternate between the good and the bad, and after a victory we can sometimes relax on the next match. , many players are playing in Europe, and some are the best in their clubs at their posts, so it will be a tough match, and we will have to show great qualities if we want to dominate them.Our goal will be to leave them the least space, because they know how to use them, we will try to organize the game to be as much as possible in possession of the ball and as much as possible in the opposing camp.There are peculiarities in relation to the opponent, but not We know their ability to pass after contact, it is a parameter that we will have to control.We will try to keep our collective organization as we saw the first two games.
On the low attendance expected at the Stade de France and a "disenchantment" of the public :
On our last two games, I found that the public was present, enthusiastic, behind us until the end against South Africa and very happy in Lille. If there are not many people this weekend I regret it, but there are still supporters behind the team of France. We may have a share of responsibility in these affluences, but we were criticized so much for passing near the victories and losing, we will not promise to be magnificent. We will stay on the essentials, create a great team and it goes through the victory. If conditions permit, we will try to be pleasant. We will first try to be effective.