Absent from the field since mid-November, right pillar Tevita Tatafu was training this morning at Jean Dauger. This is very good news for the French team and for his club, Aviron bayonnais, which could have him play this weekend in Perpignan.
Tevita Tatafu back in competition, it's coming soon. After a little more than two months of absence, following his injury contracted during the match between France and New Zealand (November 16), the solid right pillar resumed collective training with his club this week.
Smiling, as usual, Tevita Tatafu took part this Thursday in morning training on Jean Dauger's lawn. He had already briefly participated in a session on January 7, but then complained of knee pain. “He had knee inflammation, even though he had workloads that were more than adequate and validated to be on the field. He only did one exercise in separate training last week, some ball handling work on a structure with the forwards and we felt he was having some discomfort. We didn't insist. It was infiltrated and now the knee is responding well“, explained Grégory Patat on this subject last Friday.
Patat: “There’s a good chance he’ll be a replacement”
This Thursday, Tatafu trained unceremoniously. He took part in the workshops on the sidelines, then did the (short) setup, normally. He wore a yellow bib, the one intended for replacement or non-squad players for the coming weekend. Indeed, in Perpignan, the day after tomorrow, it is the Fijian Luke Tagi who will push from the start of the match to the right of the scrum. During the session, he exchanged his chasuble with Tagi. Which means that he will replace Aimé Giral on Saturday afternoon? “There is a good chanceGrégory Patat said this Thursday. I have to assess his feelings about training. It will be him or Pieter Scholtz.”
During a week where the Bayonnais trained over three consecutive mornings, Tatafu “did the two biggest sessions“, pointed out Potato. Since then?”He becomes legitimate to enter the competition, but his playing time will be evaluated. He cannot go from eight weeks without a match to a successful performance over a long period of time“said his manager.
-It's often after the first match that it's complicated
If he returns to competition this weekend, Tatafu will then have two options. Either he will go on vacation, the Top 14 taking a break next Saturday. Either he will join Marcoussis, in the event that Fabien Galthié and his staff summon him to prepare for the reception of Wales. “The first matches are generally the easiest to tackleestimated Patat. There is an energy and mental freshness which is linked to the context of returning with the team. It's often afterwards that it becomes complicated and you will have to monitor that closely. Today, Tevita's workload must be respected, we must pay attention to him after such a long absence. There is a whole process of returning to play, which must be put in place, especially since at international level everything goes faster and the idea is that Tevita lasts until the end of the season.”
As a reminder, last Wednesday, at the right pillar position, Fabien Galthié summoned Uini Atonio, Dorian Aldegheri, Georges-Henri Colombe and Rabah Slimani. Aldegheri and Slimani were released last night by the staff of the XV of France. They will be able to play this weekend. Like Tatafu?
France
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