Shaun Edwards' 'sense of injustice' about French World Cup exit

Shaun Edwards has revisited his frustration at seeing France knocked out at the quarter-final stage of their own Rugby World Cup. The French were hotly tipped as a favourite to win the tournament, but they were eliminated by eventual winners South Africa following a classic last-eight encounter that finished 29-28 for the Springboks in Paris.

Just over 12 weeks on from that agonising October 15 defeat, Fabien Galthie and co are laying the groundwork for their upcoming Guinness Six Nations which commences with a February 2 meeting with Grand Slam champions Ireland in Marseille.

Squads for this tournament are set to named in the coming weeks ahead of the tournament’s January 22 media day in Dublin.

In the meantime, Edwards has reflected on France’s World Cup near-miss, outlining in the latest edition of the monthly Rugby World magazine his sense of injustice that his team were only quarter-finalists but also an acceptance that he wouldn’t change a thing about their preparations for France 2023.

“Sometimes you get a sense of injustice,” he admitted ahead of a Six Nations campaign that will conclude for the French with a March 16 home game in Lyon versus England, the World Cup’s best-placed European team as they finished third thanks to their bronze final win over Argentina in Paris.

“I thought we played some magnificent rugby, both in attack and defence throughout the competition. But South Africa, fair play to them, they found a way to win the game, which is not unusual for them.

"They continued in that vein, winning every game by one point. Due credit to South Africa. But we’re obviously aggrieved in some certain ways. It’s probably one of… a very, very difficult loss for us and for me.

“Our attackers caused a lot of problems for the defence. They posed a lot of problems for our defence with a different tactic, the up-and-under. There are many different ways to score tries in rugby and you only get the same points.”

Asked what would he change about the French World Cup preparations, Edwards added: “Nothing, I thought everything we did was aligned to winning. We beat New Zealand in the first game and I thought our performance against Italy was outstanding. You have to remember we only beat them by one score the last time we played them. I thought the real France turned up on the night.

“I don’t think we could have done anything more. The fitness in Monaco (at a pre-tournament camp) was a very high standard. The guys trained extremely hard and were in great shape. That was proven in the first game against New Zealand.

“It was played in unbelievable heat. It’s one of the hottest games I have ever been involved in. I’ve played in Papua New Guinea, in North Queensland, and that was boiling. So I don’t think I there is much more we could have done.

Fair play to South Africa. In rugby, you get knocked down and you’ve got to get back up off the floor, shake your opponent’s hand and wish them luck. That’s what you have got to do.”