Vincent Collett, after loss to Australia: “We’ve never been apart”

France coach Vincent Collet after the loss against Australia (74-78): “We expected this kind of tough match with twists and draws like in the second half. We showed that we are solid, we never broke even in difficulty, special situations, less use of Nicolas. (film, 13 minutes), which was somewhat voluntary. We will get one more player soon (Matthias Lessard) Join us in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Again we had trouble with offensive rebounds (20 conceded) against a team with great interiors. Xavier Cooks (6 tackles) came to pick on the head of our interior several times, and their backs were rescued. We are lacking in this sector. In spite of everything our behavior was excellent, it was ironic.

The defeat was mainly explained by poor management of their aggressive surge in the second half. On their switches, we passed the ball without enough patience. We were looking for solutions instead of letting her go. We also lost balls (22, 10 in the third quarter alone) that allowed the Australians to come back. We restricted them to a low percentage all game. Could have won anyway. If we had simply continued to manage the ball better in the first half, we would have won without worrying. »