“It could have been worse”. At a press conference with La Rochelle on Wednesday, Grégory Alldritt reacted to the 2027 World Cup draw made that morning. In comments reported by our colleagues at France Bleu and Rugbyrama, the France number 8 is wary.

“Now we have to stay very humble and focus on ourselves“, Alldritt cautioned, before turning to Japan, France’s main rivals in 2027. “In 2019, they had a wonderful World Cup, so I stand by the fact that we need to keep plenty of humility. We have to be good in the pool stage, and build up power in the second half of the tournament“, he went on.

“At the last World Cup, some got it wrong. You never know what to expect“. Before concluding, with plenty of candour: “there is no point reaching a semi-final if it is only to lose it“. Hard to argue.

As a reminder, France will take on Samoa, Japan and the United States at the 2027 World Cup in Australia.