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<blockquote data-quote="Big Ewis" data-source="post: 611928" data-attributes="member: 57076">French fitness was clearly a problem before, and I&#039;ll bet it might still be a bit today but I&#039;m not sure about it.I watched a documentary about French VS English Rugby (&quot;best enemies&quot;) where French players and notable Phillipe Saint-AndrÃ© as a coach were completely mind-boggled by how much&nbsp; gym and lift-weighting players did in England. It was like as much in a week as the French did in two months or something ridiculous like that, I could look it up if someone is interested. So that&#039;s the 90&#039;s.I can remember something like our last game of the year in 2010 against the Aussies when they came to Paris. We played a competitive first half, smt like 16-16. And we just stayed there and they went all the way to 16-59. Whether it&#039;s fatigue or a lack of fitness remains to be seen, and isn&#039;t relevant right now, but such problems only occur with the French. Have we ever seen a major Tier 1 hold up well for 40 and then get absolutely annihilated the next 40 - at home - like that ? even in an EOYT when many odd things happen.And don&#039;t get me wrong, the Aussies were amazing on attack that year and scored a ton of tries on everyone, even the Boks, twice in their backyard. But both those times the tries came in bunches in the first half, nothing to do with the French situation.So miscues based on form obviously run amok in French Rugby history, and despite psychological caprices - most of the French inconsistency reality comes from fatigue or fitness, no doubt.And about nowadays ? Well I think they&#039;re just around up to par with the rest...at least the rest of the NH.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Big Ewis, post: 611928, member: 57076"] French fitness was clearly a problem before, and I'll bet it might still be a bit today but I'm not sure about it. I watched a documentary about French VS English Rugby ("best enemies") where French players and notable Phillipe Saint-AndrÃ© as a coach were completely mind-boggled by how much gym and lift-weighting players did in England. It was like as much in a week as the French did in two months or something ridiculous like that, I could look it up if someone is interested. So that's the 90's. I can remember something like our last game of the year in 2010 against the Aussies when they came to Paris. We played a competitive first half, smt like 16-16. And we just stayed there and they went all the way to 16-59. Whether it's fatigue or a lack of fitness remains to be seen, and isn't relevant right now, but such problems only occur with the French. Have we ever seen a major Tier 1 hold up well for 40 and then get absolutely annihilated the next 40 - at home - like that ? even in an EOYT when many odd things happen. And don't get me wrong, the Aussies were amazing on attack that year and scored a ton of tries on everyone, even the Boks, twice in their backyard. But both those times the tries came in bunches in the first half, nothing to do with the French situation. So miscues based on form obviously run amok in French Rugby history, and despite psychological caprices - most of the French inconsistency reality comes from fatigue or fitness, no doubt. And about nowadays ? Well I think they're just around up to par with the rest...at least the rest of the NH. [/QUOTE]

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