To comment on the three matches of the French XV during the next November tour, TF1 will rely on Stefan Etcheverry, columnist for Bruce Toussaint’s morning show “Bonjour” and former figure in the Canal + rugby service. Thomas Lombard, also a former consultant for the encrypted channel and today general director of Stade français, will be at his side.
It’s a small revolution that supporters of the XV of France will experience during the next fall tour. Until then, these meetings were broadcast by France Télévisions. However, the TF1 group, by obtaining the broadcasting rights for the 2023 World Cup, had in the same batch purchased these tour matches for two years, i.e. until 2025. Thus, it is indeed on the front page that the viewers will have to skip to follow the adventures of Fabien Galthié’s players against Japan (November 9), New Zealand (November 16) and Argentina (November 22).
The Trillo-Kayser duo not renewed
Obviously, the leading European channel is preparing and refining its system. According to our information, François Trillo and Benjamin Kayser, the duo in place to commentate on the Blues’ matches during the last World Cup, will not be renewed. TF1 has decided to trust Stefan Etcheverry, one of its in-house journalists. The man who commented on the French championship for Canal + for more than ten years is today a columnist in Bruce Toussaint’s morning show “Bonjour”, after having presented the morning show on LCI, a channel of the TF1 group.
Former Austrian international, Etcheverry reappeared in the world of ovals during the World Cup. With Thomas Lombard, he was the second duo responsible for commenting on the other World Cup matches, broadcast by the TF1 group. “Stefan Etcheverry and Thomas Lombard will comment on the three matches of the French XV in November, confirms Julien Millereux, sports director of TF1. They are a seasoned duo. They will be accompanied by Christian Califano who will be our man on the ground.”
Lombard called Merling, Marti and Lacroix
Thomas Lombard, indeed, let’s talk about it. If the latter had agreed to comment on a few matches from the last World Cup, the General Director of Stade Français did not wish, given his functions within the capital club, to intervene in the matches of the French team. This time, he will be in the front row. “We legitimately asked ourselves the question of a possible conflict of interestresumes Julien Millereux. But we felt that the France team is above everything. The response would probably have been different from TF1 or Thomas if it had been a Top 14 or European Cup match. Certainly, Thomas is the manager of a club but he is above all a supporter of the XV of France.”
The former international, long a consultant for Canal +, obtained authorization from the president-owner of the capital club Hans-Peter Wild. The amount of the contributions will also be entirely donated to the Stade français association, as was already the case during the 2023 World Cup. Furthermore, still according to our information, Lombard would have made a phone call to Laurent Marti, Vincent Merling and Didier Lacroix, the three presidents of the clubs which supply the most internationals, to ensure that they saw no disadvantages.
Isabelle Ithurburu returns to rugby
To complete this system, Isabelle Ithurburu, former figure in the Canal + rugby department, will present the post-match magazine. A magazine orchestrated at the side of the pitch to decipher the match, without adding an additional consultant. And Julien Millereux concludes: “We have an expert and relevant system, but also a very general public one. It is important to evangelize rugby to as many people as possible and not just satisfy fans of this sport.”
