XV of France – Fabien Galthié: “There is a Matthieu Jalibert story, not a controversy”

The affair caused a stir in November. Before the match against New Zealand, Matthieu Jalibert – planned to be a reserve – had asked Fabien Galthié to leave the France group in the middle of the week, to find Bordeaux and its club. A request that the coach had accepted but which had put the blue career of the opener on hold, going from starter to non-group under the jersey of the rooster. Two months later, Galthié returned to this episode on the Super Moscato Show, on RMC. “There was a decision to switch to 6-2 on the bench during the match against New Zealand and we chose the versatility of Dupont to cover the flyhalf position in the event of injuries. At the same time, we a psychological unit for players and staff members who have questions Matthieu managed to verbalize his condition and I told him that there was no problem, asking him if it was better for him. to return to Bordeaux. He answered me. : “It’s better for me, better for the team.” There is a Matthieu Jalibert story, not a controversy.”

We need Matthieu Jalibert

In this same speech, the former Colomiers scrum half therefore mentioned a potential return of Jalibert to the blue group for the 2025 6 Nations Tournament. The list will be revealed Wednesday afternoon. “I spoke with Matthieu during the holidays and it’s important that we can talk to each other, confided Galthié. Yes, he has a chance to be there. We need Matthieu Jalibert because the more players have potential, the more we need them. His ambition is the French team until at least 2027. I prefer a player who verbally expresses his wishes rather than players who suffer. Thomas Ramos, two years ago, asked to return to Toulouse before a match against the All Blacks. He did it and today he is an executive on the team.”

Despite everything, Galthié did not want to give the name of the fly-half who will start the match against Wales on the first day of the 6 Nations Tournament. A competition for which several players have already withdrawn. This is the case of Charles Ollivon, who will not play again this seasonbut also Gaël Fickou, absent for six weeks. The coach also mentioned recent injuries during the European parenthesis. While Reda Wardi reportedly suffers from an intercostal cartilage fractureUini Atonio would suffer from meniscus and Romain Buros ankle. Alexandre Roumat, for his part, was injured in the calf.

Jegou and Auradou can be in the group

In terms of returns, the XV of France could count on Oscar Jegou and Hugo Auradou, accused of aggravated rape last summer during Argentina tour. “From the beginning we have said that we trust the Argentine justice system, justified Galthié. From the moment there is an official dismissal of the case, we consider that they are innocent. They are therefore selectable. Perhaps they will then help the Blues to win a title, they who have only won “one” 6 Nations Tournament since the arrival of the coach. The latter concluded: “In rugby, the problem is that all the matches are tets matches and all the test matches are titles. The players are just waiting for that, we want to win the Tournament of course. At the international level, the matches are play very often in the last moments. It is in these moments that we must be even stronger collectively. It is perhaps at this price that we will go further.