Galthie’s message of hope to top 100
TOP 14 coaches, pundits and fans have had the calculators, slide rules and computer modelling programmes out this weekend as they worked through the permutations of the current campaign. Mark the dates in your diaries: exactly one month from today, four days after the Top 14 final, France coach Fabien Galthie will announce his first 42-player training squad for the World Cup.
Two months later, on August 21, he will confirm the final 33 for the tournament itself.
Between those two dates, the French coaches have given themselves plenty of room for manoeuvre, and left plenty of doors open for anyone who doesn’t make that first list.
And up to June 21, the coaching staff will have their work cut out reducing a long list of “around 100”, according to Galthie, down to that initial 42.
That list will be far from the end of the matter.
The head coach’s message at a press conference in his Lot hometown this week – where he had launched his ambitions plans for the national squad at the end of 2019 – was unequivocal, if not entirely accurate: “Until the last [warm-up] match, I invite the elite of French rugby to prepare to board the France team bus.”
The last pre-tournament summer warm-up match is against Australia in Saint-Denis on August 26, five days after the World Cup squad confirmation deadline, but you get the message.
Right now, and for as long as possible, places are available. It’s some message for a number of players.
One of those players on Galthie’s mind is Toulouse back row Anthony Jelonch, who has not played since rupturing an ACL in the Six Nations. According to Galthie, Jelonch is currently defying recovery timescale expectations and may – as per the player’s own assertions after his surgery – be ready to return in August, just before the final squad is revealed.
It seems like good news, if you ignore the small matter of match-fitness and preparation. A huge amount rests on Jelonch’s solid shoulders – not least his own ambitions – between now and then.
Another unlikely player on the radar is Jelonch’s team-mate Emmanuel Meafou, despite being apparently unable to play under World Rugby eligibility rules until after the World Cup. France have asked World Rugby for clarification, citing New Zealand Rugby’s successful bid in 2022 to exempt Tongan-born scrum-half Folau Fakatava from the increased eligibility timescale because he became eligible for the All Blacks just before the rule change took effect, but when no matches were scheduled.
Meafou’s situation is slightly different, and France’s question leans heavily on the year-long Covid delay to the implementation of World Rugby’s rules – a period in which, ironically, he was ineligible under French rugby’s own citizenship requirement.
Much has been made on social media about France’s approach to World Rugby – and, no doubt, much will be made when the governing body’s decision is announced in mid-June, whichever way it goes.
The loudest shouters point to the fact Spain were disqualified from a qualifying competition after fielding an ineligible player.
This, wilfully or otherwise, misses a key point – France aren’t about to field an ineligible player. They merely wish to know if they can pick a player they’d like to pick given that player’s particular situation. Better clarity than the other way.
As Galthie said: “We were promised a clear answer in mid-June. We will know if we can count on Emmanuel Meafou in our preparation or if we have to wait until November 2023.”
Meanwhile, two 19-year-olds – Pau centre Emilien Gailleton, the leading try-scorer in the Top 14 this season, and Bordeaux winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey – are on notice that they may be required to step back from the U20 world championships in South Africa this summer after being namechecked as possible call-ups to the senior squad.
And Montpellier’s centre Arthur Vincent, recovering from his second ACL injury in as many seasons, will also have been alerted to the not-so-hidden message in Galthie’s words.
But it’s not good news for everyone. Castres hooker Gaetan Barlot, however, is unlikely to feature as he recovers from surgery on a cervical hernia. The third hooker slot behind Julien Marchand and Peato Mauvaka is likely to be a threeway battle between La Rochelle’s Pierre Bourgarit, Toulon’s revitalised Teddy Baubigny, or Racing’s returning Camille Chat – a player with personal points to prove after an injury-ravaged season.
Lyon fly-half Leo Berdeu, who suffered an ACL injury on club duty recently, is also out of the World Cup reckoning, perhaps opening a path for the return of Louis Carbonel to the mix, alongside Romain Ntamack and Mathieu Jalibert.
While the first World Cup squad won’t formally meet until an 11day camp in Monaco on July 3, a pre-camp has been organised at French rugby’s Marcoussis headquarters between June 5 and June 9 for players not involved in the Top 14 post-season semi-finals.
A three-day training meet, near Marseille at the end of June, was cancelled to give players at least a little time for some rest after a long campaign.
After Monaco, camps are organised at Marcoussis, from July 24 to August 3, and finally at Capbreton – to which families are invited – from August 7 to August 25.
Warm-up matches against Scotland (twice), Fiji and Australia are scheduled for August.
The squad list will be open to modification and addition ahead of each camp. “We know very well there will be injuries and players coming back from injuries,” Galthie told journalists. “Each change of cycle, whether in Monaco, Marcoussis or Capbreton, will give us the chance to possibly change some elements of the 42. It will be an uncompromising preparation, with a lot of precision.”
Apparently, then, Galthie has little to offer except blood, toil, sweat … and hope. Heading into this hectic summer, that’s a heady mix for French players with World Cup ambitions.
“Jelonch is defying recovery timescale expectations and may be ready to return in August”