A third Ntamack beat Boks for France

THERE has rightly been much comment this season about young French tyro Romain Ntamack and his father Emile, France’s elegant wing of the late 90s and early noughties, not least their penchant for longrange interception tries. Romain grabbed one against Wales last week while Ireland fans will still remember his dad sprinting home from 80 yards in their 1995 World Cup quarter-final. I wonder, though, how many of you remember Francis Ntamack – Emile’s brother, left? Francis was a very tidy, mobile No.8 himself and enjoyed a long career with Toulouse and Colomiers, with shorter spells with Périgueux, Montauban and Blagnac. Francis can boast one distinction that has so far eluded both his brother and nephew. Although he won just the solitary France cap it was a belter, making a fine contribution to a famous 20-10 France win over South Africa at the Stade France in 2001. He is currently the only member of the Ntamack family with a victory against the Boks to his credit. In retrospect, it was a curious one-off Test for Francis. France were indulging in one of their habitual clear outs and gave debuts that night to Tony Marsh, Freddie Michalak, Clement Poitrenaud, Thibaut Privat, Aurelien Rougerie and Damian Traille. In short, the core of the side that won Grand Slams in 2002 and 2004. Ntamack had just turned 29 so was hardly in his dotage, but he missed out on all the glories that followed. Although on the bench for the next game against Australia – another excellent win for France who were clearly building something good – he didn’t get on. The following week South African journeyman Steven Hall took over for a couple of games at No.8 before the young Imanol Harinordoquy emerged in the 2002 Six Nations. After that all bets were off and Francis returned to club rugby for good.