In the aftermath of France’s second-half implosion against Wales, there was an explosion of a lazy stereotype with “typically French” uttered loin et large across TV, radio and social media to explain away the team’s performance.
Having spent the past 18 months working in French rugby such pigeonholing sits uncomfortably. Surely no one can have been referring to an inability of French sportsmen and women to deliver when it matters? The current French football world champions, who won the most competitive, tournament in the world, might disagree they bottled it for a start. It does not apply in French rugby, either. The under-20s won the most recent Junior World Cup and their under-18s won the first Youth Olympics’ Sevens gold medal. The women’s XV side, meanwhile, are the grand slam champions.
Written by Ben Ryan
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2019/feb/06/france-building-rugby-force-england-six-nations under the title “Forget the Paris implosion – France are building a force to be feared | Ben Ryan”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
