As this autumn series comes to an end, the decision of the French XV not to send its best players to New Zealand next summer continues to be talked about. A “theft” is even mentioned.
The subject is not new, but it deserves to be discussed again. The PlanetRugby site put a piece back in the machine by criticizing the decision of the French XV to preserve its best players for the 2025 summer tour in New Zealand. Too bad, because everyone in rugby dreamed of seeing a real revenge of last Saturday's match at the Stade de France.
“As the lights went out and the spotlight shone on the All Blacks during the Haka at the Stade de France last Saturday, one can't help but feel that France did the rugby public a disservice,”
wrote journalist Jared Wright this week.
While players qualified for the Top 14 final will be automatically exempt from this trip to New Zealand, the French XV could also rest a certain number of its “premium” players. For the journalist (declared supporter of South Africa), this amounts to “stealing from the public what could be one of the greatest Test series of the modern era. »
The XV of France and its priorities
This article provoked numerous comments on social networks. Many people recall (or discover) that, for French rugby, the final phases of the Top 14 and the Champions Cup undoubtedly come before a summer tour in New Zealand, despite the incomparable prestige of the opposition proposed by the All Blacks. In addition, on this subject, Fabien Galthié also mentioned the need to give certain major players some rest, in anticipation of more important events (6 Nations Tournament, 2027 World Cup, etc.).
“The physical demands of modern professional rugby are staggering and one can certainly understand the reasoning and the need for players to rest, but this should not come at the expense of important test matches”regrets the PlanetRugby site, whose appeal has little chance of being heard.
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