France react to devastating exit from their own Rugby World Cup

Devastated France coaches and players have been reacting to their heart-breaking quarter-final loss to South Africa in the Rugby World Cup.

The Springboks beat the host 29-28, a solitary point separately the sides after a stunning game of rugby ground the country to a halt.

Fabien Gatlhie’s men were lost for words in the aftermath, with ‘sad’ being the operative word as the team struggled to come to terms with the enormity of the result.

New Zealand post-match presser 14-10-2023

New Zealand post-match presser 14-10-2023

“We are very sad tonight. I think we gave everything to win that game,” said team manager Raphael Ibanez. “We knew it would be a very tight game and we had to score every opportunity. We had some good opportunities but unfortunately we couldn’t convert them into points.

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“We had our chances, they were pragmatic and sometimes we try and try our best with the support of the French fans. This is why we are sad tonight, we are sad for them. We have to get up and stand up and go for the next fight. We have other games coming, not in this World Cup, but we have to still believe in the team.”

Flyhalf Matthieu Jalibert who became France’s starting ten following a pre-tournament injury for Romain Ntamack, was equally dumbfounded.

“It’s hard to know what to say. When you look at the match, I think there was plenty of room for improvement. It was a fine game of rugby between two fine teams who gave it their all.

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“There were moments when we could have scored in the second half and taken the lead.

“South Africa should also be congratulated for resisting our attacks and scoring when they had the chance. We’re disappointed and frustrated. When you see the atmosphere today, the support from all our supporters, we’re disappointed.

“We were in good shape physically, we managed to set up a fast-moving game, we had quite a lot of space but we weren’t able to capitalise. We made a lot of little mistakes, we were probably too hasty in trying to go too fast.

“They stuck to their plan, scoring three tries on the counter-attack in the first half, playing a lot of pressure games and feeding off our mistakes and the referee’s whistle to score at the right moment and with success.”

“Every time we play at home, we have incredible support. What makes us even sadder is that we weren’t able to make them proud, to make them happy. For this group, it’s a lot of disappointment.”