It has been a long time since we last talked about sport with the XV of France. With the racist insults from Melvyn Jaminet, the accusations of rape concerning Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jegou and the disappearance of Medhi Narjissi with the U18s, we talked more about the news items than the ruck phases or the scrum. A little over two weeks before the November tour, we can finally talk about the game.
To face Japan, New Zealand and Argentina, Fabien Galthié called up 42 players. During the first week of training, 23 players will be kept until Sunday, while the other 19 will return to the club on Wednesday evening and can be aligned in the Top 14. During each match week, 28 players will be kept until Sunday.
The return of the king
A little over a year ago, the French rugby team and its captain Antoine Dupont experienced one of the cruelest defeats in its history, in the quarter-final of “its” World Cup against South Africa. The Toulouse scrum half was able to heal his wounds and his head a bit by leaving the XV for a few months to join the Septists for the Olympic Games.
A breath win winas they say on LinkedIn, which allowed the Blues to win the Olympic title at home and the former Castres to move into another dimension, while flourishing as much as possible. Two weeks after his return to the Top 14, with three tries against Clermont, he is back with the French XV where his absence was cruelly felt. He will be accompanied at the No. 9 position by Maxime Lucu and Nolan Le Garrec.
Couilloud, Marchand, Woki, the big absentees
We do not know if the Lyon prism acts as well in rugby as in football, but Baptiste Couilloud will be able to ask advice from Alexandre Lacazette. While the OL scorer remained at the dock every time (or almost) with Didier Deschamps, the Lou scrum half was also snubbed by Fabien Galthié. However, behind the inevitable Dupont, Couilloud walks on water, notably with 20 tries in the last 20 matches.
Another big name missing from the list, Cameron Woki. The Racing 92 player, who played in the second row with the Blues, will remain depressed on the Plessis-Robinson side. Driving force behind the sidelines, the one who is playing in the third row again this season has lost his splendor and is no longer, for the moment, in the coach’s plans. More surprising, the absence of Julien Marchand at the heel. The Toulouse number 2, who was nevertheless one of the pillars of this team, will see the tour on TV.
Auradou and Jegou left at home
If Hugo Auradou has returned to the Top 14 with the Section Paloise, Oscar Jegou has not yet gone further than the training sessions with Stade Rochelais. The two men, accused of rape in Argentina during the French XV tour this summer and still under investigation, were not taken by Fabien Galthié for these November test matches.
“We have been very clear, they will not play again until the case is dismissed,” explained Florian Grill, the president of the French Rugby Federation. To play again in the French team, they will also need to have adequate sporting performance. » Fabien Galthié, this summer, felt that he was not talking about the two players “in the imperfect tense. They are still part of our gems. »
Four new
Authors of a good start to the season, Joshua Brennan (Toulon), Tevita Tatafu (Bayonne), Pierre Bochaton (Bordeaux-Bègles) and Paul Costes (Toulouse) will join the France A team for the first time in Marcoussis, in the hope of experiencing a first cape. They join some regulars from the Blues who have still not been able to enter the field such as Marko Gazzotti, Romain Buros, Maxime Lamothe or Léo Berdeu.
