Berliner Tageszeitung - Alldritt's France 'to keep feet on ground' with Rugby World Cup on the mind

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Alldritt's France 'to keep feet on ground' with Rugby World Cup on the mind

SPORTS 20.11.2022

France No. 8 Gregory Alldritt said on Sunday his side are "keeping their feet on the ground" despite a record unbeaten run less than 10 months out from hosting the Rugby World Cup.

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Les Bleus claimed a 13th straight Test win with victory over Japan earlier in the day to end an Autumn Nations Series campaign which also included success over Australia and South Africa.

"It's not perfect, we have to work more and continue to do what we did this autumn," Alldritt told reporters.

"That is, ask questions of ourselves, match after match and keep our feet on the ground by not thinking we were something we're not," he added.

France edged World Cup holders the Springboks in Marseille eight days ago as they completed a clean sweep of the world's top 10 ranked sides since Fabien Galthie took over as head coach in December 2019.

"Wins like that help you grow," 25-year-old Alldritt said.

"We want to be compared with the best, so we have to match the best and we proved that again last weekend," he added.

France start their World Cup campaign by hosting New Zealand, three-time winners, in Paris on September 8.

They have nine matches before meeting the All Blacks including defending their Six Nations title and four warm-up fixtures by facing Scotland twice, Fiji and the Wallabies.

- 'Long-term objective' -

"Of course we have it in our minds the World Cup," La Rochelle's Alldritt said.

"But honestly, I take a lot of pleasure in playing these November matches or the Six Nations.

"Of course we work with the long-term objective but we make the most of the present," he added.

The only outfit above Galthie's men in the world rankings are Ireland, and the teams meet each other in Dublin in the second round of next year's Six Nations on February 11.

Ireland were also unbeaten during the Autumn Nations Series and edged Australia 13-10 on Saturday at the Aviva Stadium after having claimed a first series victory in New Zealand in July.

"We watched their match," 34-time capped back-rower Alldritt said.

"Ireland are a superb team, well organised, very precise and they have very good players.

"There will be Italy before Ireland.

"It will be one of the clashes of the Six Nations.

"We'll do things in an order, come together for a week of training, play the match against Italy and then we'll focus on Ireland," he added.

U. Schmidt--BTZ