As the time comes to reflect on the 2021 Guinness Six Nations, Fabien Galthié was keen to stress just how close France’s matches were.
Of the five games they played, four went down to the final play, with wins over Ireland and Wales, and defeats in England and then on Friday night against Scotland at the Stade de France.
That final loss, 27-23, with a try from Duhan van der Merwe once the clock had gone into the red, was particularly hard to swallow for Les Bleus.
But Galthié was keen to take some positives from the Championship as well, including a second successive second-place finish.
He said: “My first feeling is that it’s tough to take. You saw the scenario. At one point, we thought the game was over. And in the end, no. After that we had to start again defending and the Scots end up scoring and winning the match.
“All the matches were very tight, very intense, it often came down to the final play, except against Italy. All the matches swung on the last five minutes. They were tough matches, with different content. They were all really tough to play and to win. In the end, we finished second for the second straight year. It’s important to note that because it’s a really hard competition.”
After three straight games that went down to the wire, France ended up letting this one slip in the final moments, with their hopes of winning the title having disappeared already.
It was a game in which the momentum shifted one way then the other, with Fabien Galthié quick to acknowledge the performance of the Scots.
He added: “We feel like one team would take control and then the other would come back and seize the initiative in turn. Sometimes we lacked control, but at other times we had it. Scotland also put in the necessary ingredients to win the game.
“It’s true that it was a solid run (of games). It may be that we dug deep into our resources. In the end, it went down to the wire. It’s very difficult, it’s a boxing match at all times. The players dug deep into their physical and psychological reserves.”
