‘We would be kidding ourselves not to speak about it,” William Servat said. France’s forwards coach was first up to face the press as Six Nations preparations began last week and, inevitably, he was asked about the World Cup quarter-final defeat by South Africa and how the team would respond.
Three and a half months on, the players have now come to terms with the agonising early exit on home soil, Servat said. “We have to make use of this frustration as a way to prepare for the Ireland game,” the former hooker added, having debriefed the squad on their return to the Marcoussis training centre for the Six Nations.
At the start of this week, Thomas Ramos said returning to action with a possible title decider on Friday against Andy Farrell’s Ireland side means the team won’t have time to “dither”. The versatile full-back, who was promoted recently by Fabien Galthié to the six-player leaders’ group, is keen to move on as quickly as possible: “If we beat Ireland and we have a good tournament, maybe people will talk less about the World Cup.”
