More than 48 hours on, we still can’t get over it! In Cardiff at the weekend, France did far more than win. They delivered total dominance, to the point of turning the Principality Stadium into a training pitch. The scoreboard is unarguable, 54-12, a French attacking record in the Welsh capital. But behind that score, another reality takes hold, deeper, almost brutal.

Because this match was a permanent battle, a succession of impacts, runs, projections (so dear to Fabien Galthié) and collisions. The numbers are dizzying. 401 tackles in total, or one tackle every 12 seconds, the symbol of a contest without respite. Every ball was fought over, played, every metre was earned. Modern rugby in all its density, where the physical intensity never takes a break.

38 offloads

France responded with impressive control. 38 offloads, no less. That figure alone tells the story of the collective confidence. It also speaks to the ability of Antoine Dupont’s team-mates to play on their feet, to stay clear-headed under pressure, to turn every passage of play into an opportunity. France did not simply go forward. They played fast, played the right way, even at the cost of a few errors, and refused sterile confrontation in favour of permanent movement. Enough to make your head spin.

The running volume illustrates that ambition. More than 1,260 metres covered ball in hand – they attacked from everywhere – or getting back into position. Relentless activity, the reflection of a group committed on every phase of play. And, above all, a very diligent one. Nothing is left to chance now, and Italy have been warned. Every scrap of ball becomes a potential attacking sequence. Every gap, the promise of a break. French strength, more formidable than ever.

34 defenders beaten

This performance is not down to chance. It fits into a continuity sought by the French staff. For several months now, Galthié’s players have been sharpening their discipline and their efficiency. In Cardiff, they beat 34 defenders and racked up the “dynamic sequences“, confirming their ability to win the one-on-ones and impose their tempo, even away from home.

This success goes beyond the simple framework of one match and shows a team that now knows how to manage the good spells and the bad. A team that accepts the physical battle without giving up its playing identity, because it now has a genuine playing identity. A team that can defend for long periods and counter-attack quickly straight afterwards. Attack and defence handled to perfection. Cardiff, hostile territory par excellence for many long years, became the stage for a statement.

Volume of play and intensity

Wales resisted as best they could. Brave, but simply overrun by the speed of execution and the French accuracy. The wave was too powerful. Beyond the numbers, this match confirms one certainty. France are no longer just a talented team, they have become a collective machine. Capable of imposing a volume, an intensity and a control that wear opponents down.

Cardiff’s old Millennium did not only watch a French win go by, it watched the Patrouille de France fly past all afternoon. Above all, it witnessed a show of force, and what force. A total performance, in which the numbers are only the reflection of a simpler truth: France may well have found their balance. To be confirmed against more “serious” opposition.