The first week of work for the France group was punctuated by two themes: the return to Marcoussis of Oscar Jegou and Hugo Auradou and the thirst for titles of a generation that has not conquered enough of them, given its incredible talent…
Each gathering of the XV of France has its own themes. This week, in Marcoussis, we first talked a lot about the returns to training of Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jegou, ostracized by the FFR after the scandal that we know about, before being recalled to the France group following the dismissal of charges against them on December 10 in Mendoza. Therefore, should we select the two men this winter or not? Or wait until the appeal filed by the plaintiff's lawyer, Maître Natacha Romano, is examined on February 10 by the Argentine courts?
In our small universe, everyone has their opinion on the subject. Coach Fabien Galthié declared on Tuesday on the occasion of the official launch of the 6 Nations Tournament in Rome: “I understand and I hear the controversy that this may arouse, but we completely assume responsibility for our decisions. There was the possibility of selecting them (since the dismissal of the case rendered by the Argentine courts on December 10, Editor's note) and the performance passes firstly, we have a very competent staff: our choices and our classification position by position, never easy and sometimes painful, must ultimately be simple and clear. The result is there.. The second line of the Pau Section, whose staff praises the qualities in the alignment, and the third line of Stade Rochelais, excellent since his return to the club, therefore trained all week with the France group and everything leads us to believe that one or the other of these two men, or even both in the event of a 6-2 bench, will be on the scoresheet from the opening of the Tournament.
-Antoine Dupont: “A lot of disappointment with the results”
But if the two men embodied an important subject of the first week of preparation for the Tricolores, the other major theme was none other than the thirst for titles displayed by Antoine Dupont and his teammates in front of the media. Here, the problem is as follows: Fabien Galthié may have the most beautiful generation in the history of French rugby, but he has in fact only won one title since taking power in the winter of 2020. And if the 2022 grand slam was magnificent in every way, it is today too alone in the trophy cabinet that such a team should have. Questioned on this subject during Monday's press conference in Rome, the French captain explained to our colleagues from L'Équipe: “Over the last five years, we have finished second four times (in the 6 Nations Tournament, Editor's note). At the World Cup, we also lost in the quarterfinals (against South Africa, Editor's note). There is a lot of disappointment as for the track record of this team, given its potential, this frustration must be transformed into motivation, it must push us. The said “Toto” will compete in the 2025 6 Nations Tournament after being detached from the previous edition due to his participation in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
His understudy throughout the competition will be none other than Nolann Le Garrec, author of an excellent start to the season with the Hauts-de-Seine club. As was the case during the last autumn tour, Le Garrec should, in each of the matches played by the Blues, enter the pitch at the hour mark and then push Dupont towards the opener position. . Does this necessarily mean that Matthieu Jalibert, considered the great forgotten one of November after only appearing on one of the Blues' three match sheets, is today preparing to experience a similar sidelining ? Hard to say. But Jalibert, otherwise very strong during the Wednesday morning session, never entered the opening rotation that day, a position where Romain Ntamack, often, and Léo Barré, a little, shared playing time.
