France: The ludicrous attacking stats behind Ireland thumping as Fabien Galthie hails ‘accuracy’
France head coach Fabien Galthie (left) claimed his side's win was 'one of the most accurate attacking performances in a long time'
France head coach Fabien Galthie has hailed his side’s attacking efforts following their 36-14 win over Ireland, describing it as one of the “most accurate attacking performances in a long time”.
Les Bleus ran in five tries on their way to victory in their Six Nations opener in Paris last night (Thursday, February 5), in a win that further cements their status as Six Nations title contenders.
‘The team played with great accuracy’
Speaking after the Test, Galthie said: “In an attacking sense, the team played with great accuracy.
“It was one of the most accurate attacking performances in a long time, despite the weather conditions.
“The variety between kicking and keeping the ball in hand was remarkable.”
And, he has reason to be pleased with his side’s output ball-in-hand, too, with them posting some utterly ludicrous attacking stats on their way to victory.
As a unit, France made a staggering 593 metres ball-in-hand from their combined 76 carries, an average of 7.8 metres per carry. To put that even more into context, Ireland managed just 385 metres from their 65 carries, or an average of 5.9 metres per carry.
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Around that, Les Bleus also put their proper game-breaker players to good use, and that too is reflected in the numbers. Thomas Ramos led the way across the game with 95 metres from his 13 carries, Louis Bielle-Biarrey was close behind on 94 metres from just four carries and Nicolas Depoortere posted 49 metres from his nine truck-ups.
The pack were also heavily involved in the all-court attack, with Mickael Guillard leading the way for carries across the game with 16, while Oscar Jegou contributed nine, Julien Marchand eight and Anthony Jelonch seven.
Their tallies alone make pleasant reading for any France fan, but they also caused the Irish defence serious issues.
Depoortere beat seven defenders, Matthieu Jalibert and Bielle-Biarrey five, Ramos four and Jegou three, all tallying more than the next-highest Irish player in the table (Jacob Stockdale and Sam Prendergast with three each), while they also managed to slice through the line on multiple occasions as well, with the squad making a combined 13 linebreaks between them.
France’s kicking game, both from the base of the ruck and out of their own half, was also a major part of their attack last night, making 1165 metres from the boot in the process at a 39% retention rate.
Galthie described it as ‘one of the most accurate performances in a long time’, and it seems that is the perfect way to sum it up.
