Les Bleues director Annick Hayraud wants “the 15th fighter for France”.

The XV of France Women returns to Pau! A year and a half after a match against England in the opening ceremony of the 2020 Six Nations ChampionshipLes Bleues are preparing for their rise to power one year after the World Cup. They will face New Zealand twice, the world champions, in a few days. Tricolores manager Annick Haywood expects consistency in the performance of her players. After the big victory over South Africa (46-3), it was not allowed to relax against black fern This Saturday at Hamo Stadium (3pm).

France Blue Bern Bigor: They play New Zealand this Saturday and then again next week. Does this change the approach taken at this meeting in Bo?

Annick Herod : She had a desire to play twice. The idea is to see our ability to perform, and above all to renew our performance. He only played them once, it didn’t matter to us. Player investment has been total since this summer, and now we want to see, match by match, our ability to follow at the highest level in the game and in score. We finish the first test with a very positive result, and we want to see now against the world champions, this Saturday, but if we also plan, next Saturday, what we can offer.

The goal is to maintain the level of the South African match throughout the round?

It’s one of the goals, girls know that. We have a pool of 36 players, which can still be expanded, and any team configuration allows us to have a competitive XV. The players are working in that direction, we are making a lot of sacrifices, the federation has also put the means into training, I hope this will be an added value to the team and I am sure the girls will respond against New Zealand in Pau.

The New Zealanders came away with two big defeats in England (43-12 then 56-15), how do you explain that?

It’s a bit difficult to understand… The English have not, so far, had much success against the New Zealanders, for example in the last World Cup final, so I think the English were very prepared for this series. And then I don’t know the exact terms of New Zealand’s readiness. Whatever happens, I know they will arrive ready, there will be Olympic medals in this team, it’s a team that’s experienced with a lot of intensity, and it’s up to us to be vigilant in the face of that.

The final match of the 15th edition of France Women’s in Hamm, this defeat to the English leaves a few unfinished business, do you want to do better?

Yes, we can’t talk about revenge, but in the first period of this match we stayed in the dressing room. It was our experience, and I dare imagine it won’t happen again. We are keen to show a beautiful picture of the 15th fighter for France, from start to finish. There will inevitably be tough times on the pitch but Pau’s fans will be behind the girls.

You were talking about a group of 36 players, not counting the absentees, are you also following the return of Lonsoise Lise Arricastre to the competition?

It’s clearly on a federal contract, and we have news regularly, and we follow it. She is in contact every week with our physical trainers and medical staff to follow the progression of her injury. She hasn’t been able to resume yet, but once she’s back in the tournament, she’ll be one of the guys we’ll be following, with others in the future.