Against Japan, Gaël Fickou (90 caps) will be a substitute since it is the Moefana-Gailleton pair which was chosen by Fabien Galthié to start this first November test. A “finisher” role that the Racingman has not had for almost six years, it was in February 2019.
This is one of the main lessons of the composition of the Blues against Japan. A member of the Blues for many seasons, Gaël Fickou will start this fall 2024 tour on the substitutes' bench. And it’s been a while since that happened. The Racing 92 player will wear the number 23 jersey against the Japanese.
We have to go back almost six years to find traces of a Blues meeting that the former Stade Français player started on the edge of the pitch. This meeting? It was a France-Wales match which counted at the time for the first day of the 2019 Six Nations Tournament and was played on February 1.
After that? Fickou was either a starter or out of the group by choice of the French staff, but never on the bench. This France-Japan on Saturday will end an incredible series of 48 starts in a row for the 30-year-old center. Proof of its importance in the system of the XV of France.
First time “finisher” under the Galthié era
It's a word that Fabien Galthié made fashionable upon his arrival at the head of the Blues. Facing the Japanese, Fickou will discover the life of a “finisher”. In other words: these players on whom the French staff is counting to energize the French game in the second act.
For the very first time, the man with 90 caps will be responsible for bringing his energy at the end of the match (if there is no physical problem early in the match among the starters) for the very first time under the Galthié era. At a press conference, the coach recalled that the Paris region “arrived in Marcoussis with 8 match sheets out of 8 in the Top 14, and all as a starter. This is an observation.” He then continued: “I have great admiration for him, who has managed to maintain his level of performance for a very long time.”
If we had to add a number to demonstrate the indispensable side of the Varois by birth within the XV of France, we would recall that it had been 27 matches that the number 13 flocked jersey was awarded to him as soon as he put on the crampons. Another series that will end.
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