FRENCH COLUMN
James Harrington reports news from across the Channel
The news broke on Monday, the day after his jaw. France fly-half and World Rugby’s Breakthrough Men’s Player of the Year for 2019 Romain Ntamack needed an operation on a double fracture sustained during Toulouse’s Christmas weekend win over Bordeaux.
He will be out for six to eight weeks. Assuming the Six Nations goes ahead as scheduled and currently formatted, which is far from guaranteed given the current health and lockdown situations across competing countries, he will miss the tournament opener against Italy in Rome on February 6 and in all likelihood the trip to Dublin set to follow.
There’s no doubt the news is an early difficult-second-year blow for Fabien Galthie, who had more than his fair share of slices of selection good fortune in the bad luck year that was 2020. The spine of his side – Marchand-Alldritt-Dupont-Ntamack-Bouthier – stayed fit throughout the extended 2020 Six Nations. Just. Then Bouthier picked up an injury training for the Autumn Nations Cup campaign, and was somewhat muted on his out-of-position return to club action.
Ntamack was injured for the originally scheduled Six Nations match against Ireland, but fit and ready to go after a six-month coronavirus break for the rearranged game; meanwhile, Mohamed Haouas would have been banned for that match, too, had it gone ahead as scheduled, but was available to play when it finally kicked off.
And the cancellation of the Autumn Nations Cup game against Fiji meant Galthie kept his firstchoice squad together for one additional week.
Make no mistake, however, losing Ntamack for at least one and more likely two games is a blow, but it’s not as if it’s him or bust in that position.
Matthieu Jalibert provided better-than competent cover for three Autumn Nations Cup games, while Louis Carbonel has longprophesied Chosen One potential.
There was a certain irony, then, that the two fly-halves competing for the starting 10 shirt in Ntamack’s absence met in the opening Top 14 game of 2021, as Bordeaux entertained Toulon under crisp winter skies. And it was Jalibert who confirmed his status as France’s first-change 10 with a masterclass, as the hosts won 31-18 in what was also scrum-half Baptiste Serin’s first return to Chaban Delmas since he joined Toulon in July 2019.
The benighted year that was 2020 did end with one more slice of fortune for Galthie, in the form of news of a player-release agreement between the FFR and LNR that somehow just about allows both sides to claim a win.
In a complex fudge of a deal that only the French could come up with, Galthie appears to have got what he wants – namely the ability to call-up 42 players to his Six Nations training camps. The LNR appear to have got at least some of what they want by spreading the load across more teams. What has, in effect, been agreed is that Galthie can select 37 players, from whom he must select his matchday 23, and five training camp ‘squaddies’ to make up training camp numbers.
Bayonne pointed the finger of blame in the direction of European rugby organisers when their Top 14 match trip to Castres last weekend was called off because of an outbreak of the UK variant of Covid-19 at the club after their match against Leicester.
Club tempers won’t have improved after a second domestic game – against Pau this weekend – was postponed. Friday’s trip to Toulon is also a major doubt, with the club closed until at least January 7.
Elsewhere, the bottom of the table was the place to watch. Montpellier headed into the weekend 12th in the Top 14 table, looking fearfully over their shoulder at Castres, just one point and one place behind them in the relegation play-off spot, and kicking off 50 minutes later.
They had good reason to be nervous. Antoine Miquel scored the game’s only try after 75 minutes for visitors Toulouse, to win an armwrestle 9-16 and pile the pressure on head coach Xavier Garbajosa.
Then Castres, who have followed in the footsteps of Agen, Montpellier and Pau in revamping their staff set-up before the end of 2020 leapfrogged them in the table, as they gutsed a 14-15 win at Lyon, despite playing 75 minutes with 14 players after Yann David was sent off for a dangerous tackle on Josua Tuisova.
Castres have the wood on Lyon at the moment, winning the last five in a row. But they came into the game in a dismal place. Earlier this week, backs coach Stephane Prosper was relieved of his duties, the preChristmas home defeat against Brive the final straw.
He has been replaced by former co-coach David Daricarrere, who left at the end of the club’s difficult 2014-15 season – and had been on the club’s radar to take charge of the backs under Mauricio Reggiardo at the start of the 2019-20 season, until the manager insisted on his longterm colleague, Prosper.
Bottom-of-the-table Agen, meanwhile, took a surprise early lead at home to table-toppers La Rochelle. But that was about as good as it got, as the visitors ran in six tries – including a first-half hat-trick for hooker Pierre Bougarit and a double for Gregory Alldritt – to win 13-43.
Stade Francais entertain Brive this afternoon and, in what should be the game of the weekend, snow permitting, Clermont face Racing 92.
“Jalibert confirmed his status as France’s first change 10 with a masterclass”