Romain Ntamack absent, the option Matthieu Jalibert seemed the most obvious to compensate for the absence of the Toulouse native. It doesn’t necessarily take the path. Explanations.
Until then, when Romain Ntamack, coach Fabien Galthié’s favorite Blues fly-half, was injured, the latter invariably turned to his natural replacement Matthieu Jalibert. Recently, this was true during the last World Cup. This was still true during the first three matches of the last 6 Nations Tournament before the Bordeaux player injured his knee against Italy. However, success has not always been there. Above all, the two performances of Thomas Ramos against Wales and England, at the end of the 2024 Tournament, have finally convinced the French staff that the Stade Toulouse fullback is probably establishing himself as the suitable successor to NTK.
Since taking office, Fabien Galthié has nevertheless always been classified in the ranks of “conservatives”, methodically applying the principle of an established hierarchy, what he calls his “ranking”. If, this time, the boss of the Blues were to turn to Thomas Ramos, it would be a first. Some would see it as a slap in the face of the contract, others as a simple game of competition.
The excellent start to the season
Obviously, we have to wonder about the choice that will be made for the match against Japan on November 9. The UBB flyhalf has had a very good start to the season with his club and is no stranger to his team’s offensive dynamic. On the contrary. In six days, manager Yannick Bru’s men scored 33 tries (including 3 from Jalibert), an average of 5.5 tries per match. The figures speak for themselves and speak in favor of the Gironde opener.
However, according to our information, as soon as the injury and the duration of Romain Ntamack’s unavailability were known, the staff prioritized the Thomas Ramos option, with the idea of placing Parisian Léo Barré at full-back, as during the last two matches of the 2024 Tournament. At the age of 21 at the time, the young player had given a serious guarantee to replace Ramos. He confirmed it during the two test matches in Argentina. While in Paris during the month of September, the coach had, during an interview, assured the Stadiste a place on the match sheet. Except that, since then, Léo Barré has been plagued by doubt with his club. His last outing on the Lyon pitch was not really reassuring. To the point of instilling doubt in the mind of Fabien Galthié who could well still be thinking about how to reorganize his three-quarter line.
France
Rugby
