THE FIXER

IT SHOULD come as no surprise that two people, in particular, have been raised on many a shoulder for kick-starting France’s long-overdue reversal of fortunes in 2020. Head coach Fabien Galthié and defence maestro Shaun Edwards have garnered the bulk of the plaudits for taking a ragtag army of talented individuals and turning them into a genuine force that won seven out of nine Internationals in the first year of les Bleus’ latest regime.

For comparison, Guy Novès managed four wins in his first year in charge and finished with a record of seven victories from 21. Jacques Brunel was less successful in his first 12 months, with just three wins to his name, though his final tally of ten from 24 perhaps could, with a squint, be considered an improvement.

There can be no doubt: what France did on the pitch last year had Galthié’s and Edwards’s dabs all over it. From the full-throttle attack and ferocious defence