A fascinating clip has surfaced of France’s head coach Fabien Galthié giving his team a pep-talk before their game against the All Blacks. It is a moment that was quintessentially French.
French is the language of love, and its reputation shines through here as the words of Galthié strike a passionate chord prophesying New Zealand’s breaking point that will occur around the 60th minute in the match.
The camera panning to the concentrated face of Romain Ntamack is chef’s kiss worthy. The mercurial fly-half would of course be the player to instigate the widely shared moment that was to occur with 61:30 on the clock. The moment that would indeed turn out to be said breaking point.
This is brilliant. @FGalthie pre match tells his team that on 60 minutes there will be a game changing moment and France were the ones that made it happen #FRAvNZL 👇 https://t.co/k6roQBMOQe
— Bernard Jackman (@bernardjackman) November 24, 2021
Thankfully, a kind soul on Twitter has provided an English translation of the speech by Galthié for the uncultured among us.
“Listen to me, in the 60th minute we have to be in the game. In the 60th minute, we have to be in the game because after that it’s not the same match.
“They are lost. They are not the same players. We have to bring them to the breaking point. Got to get them to the breaking point and I promise you in the 60th minute if you get them there, it’s not the same team anymore, it’s not the same game.”
While Ntamack’s break from behind his own try line did not directly lead to a try, it certainly evoked memories of French scores of old.
Watching the daring break and his teammate's support lines, one could not help but be reminded of their ‘try from the end of the world’ against the same side back in 1994, or Philipe Saint André’s score against England in 1991.
As for the words of Galthié, they ring out like the Gallic version of Jim Telfer’s renowned 1997 Lions speech.
See Also: Stephen Ferris Names His Three Stand-Out Performers From Ireland's November Internationals
