France coach breaks his silence after World Cup heartache

France coach Fabien Galthie lamented seeing four years of hard work go up in smoke thanks to their Rugby World Cup quarter-final loss to the Springboks.

Galthie said the margin of defeat and the stage at which they went out amplified the pain for France.

FRANCE IN MOURNING AFTER RWC LOSS

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He added that the team and rugby public were in a time of mourning.

“For us, it was a time of mourning,” said Galthie who has not spoken to the press since the night of the loss on 15 October.

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“It’s a huge disappointment after four years of hard work, four years of successful work with 80 percent wins and all those records.

“The only objective we wanted to achieve was to be world champions. There was no other.

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“It would have been the same disappointment if we’d lost in the semi-final by one point. The disappointment would have been the same if we’d lost in the final by one point.

“The difference is that we would have had an extra week.

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“The difference is enormous because we wanted to experience these moments that we’ve been working towards for four years. So the disappointment is enormous.”

GALTHIE IS STAYING ON

Galthie and his technical team will stay on as the brains behind France and will build towards the 2027 World Cup in Australia.

He insists that he wouldn’t approach anything about the match against the Springboks differently after that agonising one-point defeat.

“Tactically and strategically, if I had to do it again, I’d do the same thing,” said Galthie.

France will be back in action in February 2024 when they open their Six Nations campaign against defending champions Ireland.