If the world’s greatest rugby player is getting “stick” then it makes you question if the criticism is coming from those within the game who have credible reputations.
When you discover that the source of the ramblings are Marc Lièvremont and the ex billionaire comic book magnate who bankrolled Toulon, Mourad Boudjellal, then you can take a deep breath and realise that the rugby equivalent of those two old men in the Muppett Show leaning over their theatre box constantly complaining, are talking out of a part of their anatomy that wasn’t designed for speech.
Boudjellal is the type of man who could start a verbal disagreement in a Trappist monestary, having been relatively quiet of late it looks like he has stopped taking his medication, and like the old bloke in the shopping mall shouting incoherently at the escalator, he has decided it is time for the world to listen, and he had this to say.
“Antoine Dupont, we see him in magazines, we see him everywhere! He met Zidane, he met Henry, he met everyone but on the field, he no longer meets the ball”.
At the same time, former France coach Marc Lièvremont remember him ? the international coach who was so good the players ignored him completely at the 2011 Rugby World Cup, and after being humiliated by Tonga in the pool stages came up with their own game plan, getting to the final and very nearly winning the damn thing.
Marco’s utterings were less vindictive at the final whistle of the Stade Francais v Toulouse match (27-12), he stated on French television that Dupont had now “entered a form of norm. ” a statement as obscure as some of his coaching methods.
In fact Dupont had some outstanding moments in that game despite the defeat.
Maybe Antoine had been slightly below his scintillating best after returning from World Cup heartbreak, but his slightly below par performances are the equivalent most scrum halves highest benchmark.
Last weekend against Cardiff Dupont was back to his very best, and this weekend at the Stoop. after a couple of early errors, he faultlessly orchestrated the spell binding Toulouse back line to a 47-19 win against Harlequins.
So Boudjellal has been made to eat his words, not for the first time and in this instance it’s an all you can eat buffet.
Last Friday Fabien Galthié revealed his new back room staff to the media and led training at the Pic Saint-Loup club near Montpellier.
The Rugby Club Saint-Gély Pic Saint-Loup is made up of volunteers, and aims to be a continuation of the Pic Saint-Loup Rugby School allowing young players reaching the age limit of educational rugby a space to continue their favourite sport in a setting that respects their training, their desires, and their school or professional curriculum.
Fabien Galthié took advantage of his back-to-school press conference in Saint-clément-de-rivière to present his new assistants, Patrick Arlettaz and Laurent Sempéré, as well as Nicolas Jeanjean who has benefitted from a rise in rank.
Karim Ghezal and Laurent Labit have left the coaching set up to join Stade Francais and Thibault Giroud is now at Bordeaux.
Laurent Sempéré and Patrick Arlettaz are therefore the two new boys and Nicolas Jeanjean, has switched roles to become performance coach.
Galthie announced “I really took the time to make the decisions, because I had a lot of them. I took the best, each in their fields, each in their teams. I felt in them a great motivation, a great strength. I felt the obvious too. Their history, potential, talent and passion. ”
Laurent Sempéré joins from Stade Francais and will work William Servat who retains his position as scrum coach.
The Catalan Patrick Arlettaz arrives as attack coach with a view to making the French team as efficient as possible when they get the ball.
Nicolas Jeanjean the former French international was already part of the “performance” team and now Fabien Galthié has given him an internal promotion to compensate for Thibault Giroud’s departure. “I saw him evolve, I saw him grow, I also trained him,” Fabien Galthié said about him. “He has been here for six years already, it is an internal promotion. ”
Interestingly these men already know each other well. Galthié played against Arlettaz many times over a ten year period, Laurent Sempéré and Nicolas Jeanjean were also his team mates during his playing days at Stade Francais.
Galthié used this opportunity at Saint-Gély Pic Saint-Loup as a training session for his coaches.
Preparation time for the opening match of the 2024 Guinness Six Nations will be very limited, France face Ireland in Marseille on Friday 1st February.
As part of that preparation the coaching team will meet up next week at Marcoussis for a training course from Monday to Tuesday, followed by a working seminar from Wednesday to Thursday.
This will be an opportunity for the coaches to train with the France U20 world champions and implement the training model they will use for the senior squad.
“Saint-Andre, now they have to chance their arm here, the tour record hanging in the balance. Philippe Saint-Andre can he make the pass ? Cooksley all over him ,there it is again, Gonzalez, Deylaud, Benazzi, Ntamack, Laurent Cabannes, Deylaud what a superb movement ! what a try ! one of the all time great tries by Sadourny”.
If Carlesberg did tries they would probably step aside for the French when it comes to being the best.
The fact that this particular one was scored against the All Blacks at Eden Park of all places and with only minutes of the match remaining makes it premier cru class.
The ball travelled eighty metres from one side of the field to the other, stopping briefly for a quick two second ruck, and went through nine sets of hands, the entire move lasted thirty seconds. It was the essence of French rugby personified
In front of 40,000 spectators, the All Blacks faced France as part of a two test series.
The previous weekend France had beaten the All Blacks at Christchurch 22-8 in Phillipe Sella’s 100th match for Les Bleus.
All Blacks coach Laurie Mains had promised revenge and up until the final few minutes he looked to be as good as his word.
With minutes remaining on the clock France Captain Philippe Saint-André took the ball about 18 metres from his own tryline after a kick by All Black fly half Stephen Bachop.
Saint-André brought the ball into midfield before making a blistering break sidestepping two All Blacks along the way before the tackle of lock Mark Cooksley stopped him in his tracks a few metres short of the 40m line. The ball was recycled by hooker Jean-Michel Gonzalez who passed to fly half Christophe Deylaud. Deylaud passed outside to flanker Abdelatif Benazzi, who evaded Jonah Lomu, before passing the ball again to winger Emile Ntamack. The had travelled twenty metres, through three sets of hands in five seconds.
Ntamack then cut inside and and as he was tackled by John Kirwan offloaded to flanker Laurent Cabannes. Who in turn flicked the ball back to replacement Yann Delaigue, before being tackled by Stu Forster. Delaigue then switched play to the opposite Touchline evading a tackle by Frank Bunce before passing to France number nine Guy Accoceberry, the angle of the scrum half’s run left All Black openside Mike Brewer stranded, Accoceberry ran towards the right-hand corner, outpacing three covering All Blacks.
As they closed in Accoceberry, inches from the tryline, he offloaded to Sadourny, who just fell on the ball to touchdown for the sensational try.
Deylaud kicked a tricky conversion from wide out to give France a 23-20 lead with just 45 seconds remaining, France gathered the All Black restart and kicked to touch around the 22m line. All Black captain Sean Fitzpatrick won a scrappy lineout and got the ball back to his scrum half Stu Forster who was immediately enveloped by the French forwards. New Zealand recycled the ball and in their efforts get upfield were awarded three penalties, but the ball was eventually trapped in a maul and the final whistle was blown. It was first ever France’s test series win in New Zealand, and the first time New Zealand had lost three tests in a row in twenty-three years.
Sadourney’s try is generally considered one of the greatest tries ever scored, often ranked alongside ‘The Try’ scored by Gareth Edwards from the Barbarians against New Zealand in 1973.
PHILIPPE SAINT-ANDRE (69 French caps, wing): I was the captain and we knew the second Test was going to be very tough. We had seen on TV that the All Blacks had had a fight in training during the week. There was big pressure on them. I was playing in front of John Kirwan in one of his last international games and it was the beginning of Jonah Lomu.
John Kirwan: There were a few dust-ups at live scrums in training. I think we had a few fights playing touch.
PSA: At one point we were four points down and we had a chance to counterattack, but we kicked the ball. I was mad. I said, ‘guys, we can lose by 12 points but if we have the chance to run the ball we need to do it’. After that, the All Blacks kicked the ball. Because I’d bollocked everyone five minutes earlier I had to run the ball. I was on my own against four or five New Zealand players.
Frank Bunce: The kick was a little bit off, the chase was not quite right, one guy gets beaten and then there are all the support guys coming through.
Ian Jones: Ntamack set off through about 15 of us on this curving wonderful run. They covered a good 120 metres of ground and no one laid a hand on them.
John Kieran: We were tackling shadows. It was France at their very best and us making errors.
Frank Bunce:I got stepped inside, then they passed the ball along to Jean-Luc Sadourny…
The full-back scored on the left. The ball had passed through eight pairs of hands, from defence to attack in a flash. It was one of the great tries ever scored.
John Kirwan:It was a pretty spectacular try, not dissimilar to the Sean O’Brien one in Auckland. It was really special to see it unfold but equally really disappointing that we could not shut it down. I knew they would run it, but the rest of the team did not. It was mental switch-off for us – the last thing you can do against France is give them that try – they grow another leg when they do stuff like that.
PSA: We were in the press conference afterwards and I called it ‘essai du bout du monde’, or ‘the try from the end of the world’. It’s still known as that.
We had a big, big celebration. We went to a bar down by the sea. We drank and sung all night long.
But across the corridor, the All Black dressing room held a different mood.
John Kirwan: Have you ever been to a wake? It was like 30 of your closest mates had passed away and you were sitting with them. Purgatory probably – that was the place we were in.
Frank Bunce: You just sit there, with nothing to say. You know you have let people down and it is not going to be good.
John Kirwan:What you have to realise is that even your family will be talking about it. You cannot escape it in our country. Everyone talks about it. For me it was about hiding in my room, not wanting to go out, not wanting to show my face, being embarrassed.
New Zealand:
1. R. W. Loe, 2. S. B. T. Fitzpatrick (captain), 3. O. M. Brown, 4. B. P. Larsen, 5. I. D. Jones, 6. M. S. B. Cooksley, 7. M. R. Brewer, 8. Z. V. Brooke (replaced by A. Pene) , 9. S. T. Forster, 10. S. J. Bachop, 11. J. T. Lomu, 12. M. J. A. Cooper, 13. F. E. Bunce, 14. J. J. Kirwan, 15. J. K. R. Timu
SCORERS: Sean Fitzpatrick Try; Matthew Cooper Penalty Kicks(5)
France:
1 L. Benezech, 2 J-M. Gonzalez, 3 C. Califano, 6 A. Benazzi, 4 O. Roumat, 5 O. Merle, 7 L. Cabannes, 8 P. Benetton, 9 G. Accoceberry (replaced by X. Blond), 10 C. Deylaud, 11 E. Ntamack, 12 T. Lacroix (replaced by Y. Delaigue), 13 P. Sella, 14 P. Saint-Andre (C), 15 J-L. Sadourny
Referee Derek Bevan (Wales). The try scorer Jean-Luc Sadourny spent his entire career at the Colomiers club and won .. caps for France before opening Restaurant Le Sadourny Café in Place Alex Raymond in Colomiers.
His flair on the field was more than matched in my humble opinion by his establishment’s Tartare de boeuf charolais ou limousine every bit as mouthwatering as his glorious try at Eden Park.
Last weekend, no less than thirteen of the heartbroken French Rugby World Cup squad returned to Top 14 action.
Cyril Baille, Uini Atonio, Paul Boudehent, Pierre Bourgarit, François Cros, Jonathan Danty, Anthony Hastoy, Thibaud Flament, Matthieu Jalibert, Anthony Jelonch, Thomas Ramos, Damian Penaud and Antoine Dupont were “back on the horse” and attempting to extinguish those bitter memories of October 15.
Many squad members had already returned to club duties namely Peato Mauvaka, Dorian Aldegheri, Melvyn Jaminet with Toulouse; Baptiste Couilloud and Romain Taofifenua at Lyon; Sekou Macalou with Stade Francais, Arthur Vincent, Bastien Chalureau and Paul Willemse in Montpellier; Maxime Lucu, Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Yoram Moefana and Sipili Falatea at Bordeaux, Charles Ollivon, Gabin Villière and Jean-Baptiste Gros in Toulon; and finally Cameron Woki and Gaël Fickou at Racing 92.
La Rochelle’s Uini Atonio admitted that he needed a real break “I spent three weeks where I completely cut with rugby. I spent time with my family, since we lived four months together with France to prepare for the World Cup. So, frankly, I was happy to return to the club. And even more so in view of the energy there was when all the internationals arrived earlier this week. I don’t even know if I watched any for three weeks, and as a result I am physically and mentally regenerated. I am ready to resume the race. And laugh with the guys. ”
“After three weeks of vacation, I feel very good,” Anthony Jelonch revealed “We had a tough first week after the defeat against South Africa, but we have to move on. I hadn’t had a break for a very long time, and by the third day of vacation, I was bored at home. But I didn’t necessarily want to get back playing quickly, it did me good for my head and body to enjoy several days of rest. ”
Not everyone is back, Julien Marchand, who played a total of just 12 minutes at RWC 2023, is still injured, and Grégory Alldritt, is resting until the new year, not surprisingly after the battering his body took throughout 2023.
The Top 14 is now back in full swing until the final in Marseille on Friday 28 June interrupted only by European competitions and the Guinness Six Nations for those who have now returned from national service it is going to be a long old haul.
Over 130 rugby internationals lost their lives in the First World War. Thirteen of them played for Wales.
THE 13 WELSH INTERNATIONALS WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE GREAT WAR
Richard Thomas
Born: Ferndale, 14 October 1883.
Killed in action : Mametz Wood 7 July 1916.
Wales: Four caps, 1906-1909.
John Lewis Williams
Born: Whitchurch, Cardiff, 3 January 1882.
Died of wounds: Corbie 12 July 1916.
Wales: 17 caps, 1906-1911.
David Westacott
Born: Cardiff, 10 October 1882.
Killed in action: Wieltje, 28 August 1917.
Wales: One cap, 1906.
Horace Wyndham Thomas
Born: Pentyrch, 28 July 1890.
Killed in action: Ancre, 3 September 1916.
Wales : Two caps, 1912-1913.
Richard Davies Garnons Williams
Born: Llowes, Radnorshire, 15 June, 1856.
Killed in Action: 25 September 1915 while leading his battalion at the Battle of Loos.
Wales: One cap, 1881.
Charles Gerald Taylor
Born: Ruabon, North Wales, 8 May 1863.
Killed in action: 24 January, 1915 at the Battle of Dogger Bank when his ship HMS Tiger was hit by fire from German cruiser SMS Blucher.
Wales: Nine caps, 1884-1887.
Louis “Lou” Augustus Phillips
Born: Newport, Monmouthsire, 24 February 1878.
Killed in action: Cambrai, on 14 March 1916.
Wales: Four caps, 1900-1901.
Charles Mayrick Pritchard
Born: Newport, Monmouthshire, 30 September 1882
Died of wounds: 14 August, casualty clearing station, Western Front.
Wales: 14 caps, 1904-1910.
Phillip Dudley Waller
Born: Bath, Somerset, 28 January 1889.
Killed in action: Hit by shellfire, 14 December 1917, Arras.
Wales: Six caps, 1908-1910.
Brinley Richard Lewis
Born: 4, January 1891, Pontardawe.
Killed in action: 2 April, 1917 Ypres, France, hit by shellfire.
Wales: Two caps, 1912-193.
William “Billy” Purdon Geen
Born: 14 March 1891, Newport, Monmouthshire.
Killed in action: Hooge, Flanders, 31 July, 1915.
Wales: Three caps, 1912-1913.
Fred Leonard Perrett
Born: Briton Ferry, 9 May 1891.
Died of wounds: 1 December 1918, in a clearing station weeks after the armistice.
Wales: Five caps, 1912-1913
David Watts
Born: Maesteg 14 March 1886.
Killed in action : 14 July 1916 at Bazentin Ridge, France.
Wales: Four caps, 1914.
90 International players (including three Welsh internationals) gave their lives in the Second World War including two legends of the game.
Prince Alexander Obolensky who fled to Britain during the Bolshevik revolution of 1917, he went on to play wing for England; he died in an aeroplane training accident.
Eric Liddell represented Scotland seven times while at university before retiring to concentrate on athletics – immortalised in 1981 film Chariots of Fire; he was later a missionary, and died in an internment camp in China.
THREE WELSH INTERNATIONALS WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN WORLD WAR II
Cecil Rhys Davies (1 Cap)
Born: Pontypridd 12 September 1909
Killed in action: 24 September 1941 he was taking part in a patrol over the Bay of Biscay, his aircraft never returned.
John R Evans (1 Cap)
Born: Newport 12 September 1911
Killed in action: 8 March 1943 Sedjenane, French Tunisia
Maurice J.L. Turnbull (2 caps)
Born: Cardiff 6 March 1906
killed in action: 5 August 1944 by a sniper’s bullet in the French village of Montchamp following the Normandy landings.
A picture postcard A folded stub A program of the play File away your photographs Of your holiday
And your mementos Will turn to dust But that’s the price you pay For every year’s a souvenir That slowly fades away
Billy Joel’s short but poignant composition “souvenir”, written in 1974 for his Streetlight Serenade album, would seem to sum up perfectly the thoughts and feelings of many us as the 2023 Rugby World Cup comes to an end.
As the programmes, tickets, newspapers, scarves, and other mementos find their way into “that” drawer, the return to normal life seems a bit of a challenge on this dark Sunday morning.
Where Mr Joel may have been incorrect is in the final lines of his song. There are memories of this tournament that will definitely not slowly fade away, in fact they will gain momentum and exaggeration as the years go by.
That magnificent rendering of La Marseillaise in its spiritual home, when Les Bleus faced Namibia, will just get louder and more emotional in recollection than it actually was on that muggy, thundery, airless night at the Velodrome.
We certainly won’t forget Antoine Dupont’s zygomaticomaxillary complex fracture, although we may not remember how to spell it.
And what about Portugal’s win over Fiji in Toulouse ? there are rugby fans still stuck in the corner of bar Spot Lisboa on Rua Do Norte in Lisbon, desperately hungover and staring at a blank television screen in joyous disbelief.
I have no doubt that the memories of Amato Fakatva’s wonderful try for Japan against Argentina will gain in yardage over the coming years ,as will the number of opponents he beat on the way to the try-line.
On a cold wet winters morning , we may discover unexpectedly the odd Euro and metro ticket in our pocket, taking us back to that warm sunny bar in Marseille, or the cafe in Paris, where the waiter told us about the dangers of Tomas Ramos and bed bugs.
More importantly those friends and family we shared the moments with will ensure those memories don’t turn to dust, as tales of Paris, Lille, Lyon, St Etienne, Marseille, Nice and Nantes are recounted and re-lived over a beer or a glass of wine or two for years to come.
Rugby World Cup 2023 began in Paris on a hot, steamy, sun drenched late summer Friday, and ended in the very same city on a damp chilly October Saturday night. The final day coincided with the winter solstice when we turned the clocks back one hour, in reality what we desperately wanted to do was turn the clocks back seven weeks.
“It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves” William Shakespeare Julius Caesar – Act 1-Scene 2
It was France destiny to lift to 2023 Rugby World Cup trophy, but as William Shakespeare reminds us, it is always more terrestrial forces that decide the outcome of these matters.
A week on from France’ emotionally crushing defeat by South Africa, it is easier to take a more rational assessment of all matters blue, even if it is still just as painful.
That incredible match against South Africa has now been superseded by a Springbok victory over England, but there are many folk in France and beyond who still can’t quite believe what happened at Stade de France on Sunday 15 October, and I am one of them.
No matter how many times we watch a re-run of that fabulous match the final scoreline never changes, however much we will it to.
At midday last Monday the French squad checked out of the Renaissance Hotel in Rueil-Malmaison and headed to the Brasserie d’Auteuil, in the 16th arrondissement for a farewell gathering, the goodbyes were lengthy, there were a lot of sorrows to drown.
They now get at least ten days and restless nights off before resuming Top 14 duties with their clubs.
So what now for Les Bleus ?
Many of the current squad are young enough to go again in Australia 2027, Dupont, Ntamack, Bielle-Biarrey, Aldritt, Meafou, Vincent and Boudehent will be thirty or under at the next tournament.
Fabien Galthie is already back to work, he is contracted until 2028, and it has been confirmed that Rapahaël Ibanez (Manager), William Servat (Forwards coach) and Nicolas Jeanjean (Physical conditioner) will remain in post. The other positions are either yet to be decided or confirmed.
The 2024 Guinness Six Nations begins on February 5 when France face Ireland in Marseille. There will be no matches at Stade de France due to modifications needed to the stadium for its use as an Olympic venue in 2024.
France’s other home games will be against Italy in Lille, and in the final weekend of the tournament, England in Lyon.
For France their rugby ghosts of yesteryear still cannot rest. Blanco, Sella, and many other wonderful players fell just short of World Cup glory, and now we can add more great names to that unwanted list. The wounds are still raw, but maybe this indescribable hurt can fuel France for the next four years.
Antoine Dupont can steer this side right through to 2027, but his availability at the 2024 Guinness Six Nations appears to be unlikely.
The superstar scrum half and captain has had backing from club and country to enable him to fulfil his ambition to represent France at the Olympic Rugby Sevens tournament, this would mean stepping away from the fifteen-a-side game for an extended period. Talks are ongoing with all the parties involved as to the exact dates and timings of events, but it is looking certain that Antoine will be going for gold next summer.
So now is the winter of our discontent, but it could be made noble summer on the other side of the world in 2027, à bientôt.
A small part of Rugby World Cup 2033 died at the Stade de France last night, and that is meant as no disrespect to South Africa, Argentina, New Zealand and England, the remaining combatants.
For the last four years France have lived, breathed, eaten, slept and dreamed World Cup glory on their very own green green hybrid grass of home.
It came an abrupt and tearful end last night in the capital by the narrowest of margins, one single tantalisingly reachable point.
South Africa’s 29-28 victory was etched in the weary faces of commuters at Gare du Nord this morning as they sipped their takeaway espresso’s, staring in disbelief at a tearful Antoine Dupont on the front page of L’Equipe.
Just over two weeks ago I was sat in the press tribune at the Marseille Velodrome. It was a thundery, muggy Thursday night on the south coast, and France’ magical display of rugby wizardry left the capacity crowd in raptures.
The joy and elation that swirled around that magnificent stadium that night turned into a collective gasp of shock and horror as captain, scrum half and resident rugby genius, Antoine Dupont, left the field clutching his right cheek, a cheek that was already awash with his own tears.
It felt to everyone looking on that his World Cup was over. The rugby world spent the next 24 hours looking up Zygomaticomaxillary complex fracture on Google search, looking in hope, rather than expectation, for a glimmer of good news to ease their fears.
A whole boat load of medical bulletins have passed under the Seine bridges since then, and amazingly last night, under the bright lights of Paris, just twenty-three days after surgery in Toulouse, the great man was back, and he and his esteemed colleagues were hoping to take a giant leap forward in their quest for Rugby World Cup glory.
The area around Stade de France had been buzzing since noon, a joyous colourful Sunday carnival, but as the sun set on a beautiful cloudless day defeat for France was not on the agenda.
The match itself was a throbbing brutal contest as expected, swaying back and forth and in doubt till the very last second.
The mostly home crowd ear splitting cheered every French success at scrum, line out and breakdown they did everything they could to get their boys over the line, but it wasn’t to be.
At the final whistle their were French bodies strewn across the field, prostrate, red-eyed, and utterly exhausted.
As the clock struck midnight the French fans had no interest in the fact that it was Monday morning and the start of the working week, they were crestfallen and by the look of it things will be moving very gingerly in the capital today.
For France they will wake up this morning with that awful feeling of stomach churning emptiness, they have thought about nothing other than winning this tournament. The stark reality will slowly hit that they now have to go back to normal life accompanied by that gut wrenching feeling that will take quite some time to dissipate.
A nation that has fallen in love with this team will put a collective arm around them, and they deserve nothing less, some would argue they deserve a lot more.
That glorious infuriating heart-stopping Welsh roller-coaster never ceases to amaze, frighten and astonish in equal measure.
Until the beginning of September it had been totally inactive, sat at the bottom of the track rusting away with nowhere further to descend.
On August 5th a bit of WD40 had been applied as Wales beat England in Cardiff. It had started to climb for the first time in a long while before defeats at Twickenham, and at home to South Africa, derailed it once again.
A full service was required, and by September 9 two minutes into the opening match against Fiji it purred for the first time in ages. A 31-26 bonus point victory had put it back on track.
A week later the roller-coaster proved its reliability against Portugal, before hitting the breath taking heights with a big big win against Australia. The ride upwards continued with a bonus point win against Georgia.
We were hoping for the ascent to continue, and for twenty-one minutes in Marseille it really did, but sadly that old Welsh roller-coaster had reached the top of its climb and it was downhill from there on in.
The Rugby World Cup fair is over for Wales, and the covers have been put back on, but there is optimism that come early February that infuriating, heart stopping part of all our lives will be fully operational once again.
The Stade de la Beaujoire has painful connotations for Wales and their followers. I know of people in Llanelli that are still receiving counselling as a result of the final Rugby World Cup pool match that took place on the French Atlantic coast back in 2007.
That game in Nantes was a riot of rampant rugby, and the flying Fijians epic win sent Wales home with their tails, and various other parts of their anatomy, between their legs.
But before the flashbacks get too overwhelming, let’s fast forward to 2023. For Wales fans the rollercoaster they are so familiar with was closed for the weekend. Instead of the usual gut wrenching need of a win to qualify for the knock-out stages, it was a case of whether they would go to a Marseille quarter final as group winners or runners-up, which was probably just as well given their opponents, Georgia, are one of a long line of oval shaped banana skins that have taken the legs from under the men in red over recent years.
Wales and Georgia have a lot in common, they both have a population of around three million, and an historical tradition of vibrant coal and steel industries now sadly defunct.
With players in the starting line up plying their trade at Lyon, Toulouse, Brive, Toulon, Bayonne, Stade Francais and Biarritz, Georgia must have felt quite at home on the banks of the Loire.
But it was the boys from the banks of the River Taff that took home all the prizes, bonus point win, pool winners and unbeaten in the process.
Anyone predicting that a few weeks ago would have been given a wide berth and a very poor sanity rating.
A 43-19 win scoring six tries masks a period of the game where Georgia were in touching distance but Wales pulled away and in the end it was a comfortable victory.
A quarter final awaits next Saturday in Marseille where the opponents are likely to be Argentina or Japan.
Injury worries over Gareth Anscombe and Taulupe Faletau will be cause for concern but for now it’s job well and truly done for Wales.
Mike Pearce Rugby 