The week started badly for the XV of France. Monday August 14, we learned that a ligament in the left knee of Romain Ntamack, conductor of the Blues of rugby, had had the bad taste to break during the victory against Scotland, three days earlier. And it was not the only tile of this black Monday: the management of the selection announced, in the process, the bet on the flank of Cyril Baille, beam of the tricolor scrum, for several weeks, the fault of a tear at the calf.
A double blow: Cyril Baille will miss several home World Cup matches (September 8 to October 28) – including one of his key moments, the clash against New Zealand at the opening of the tournament, when Romain Ntamack , he will have to be content to watch the competition from his sofa.
For the players still intact, it was necessary to digest this “monumental slap”, as the coach of the XV of France, Fabien Galthié, called it, and get back to work. Because this badly embarked week must end on Saturday August 19 with the third preparation match before the World Cup, in Nantes, against the Fiji Islands (9 p.m.).
It’s a hell of a piece that awaits the Blues. To be convinced of this, it is enough to look at the attackers lying on the score sheet by the coach of the Flying Fijians, Simon Raiwalui. Even in the absence of Josua Tuisova, the supersonic mastodon leaving for Racing 92, injured, there are some of the sharpest arrows on the planet. Semi Radradra, the dashing acrobat who will play this season in Lyon, will accompany in attack Jiuta Wainiqolo, Iosefo Masi, Sireli Maqala and Vinaya Habosi, all gold medalists in rugby sevens at the last Olympic Games. It is not for nothing that when announcing the composition of his team, Fabien Galthié anticipated “a perfect match to go back to fighting, against the best attackers in the world”.
“We are going to have war” recognized, in the middle of the week, Maxime Lucu, who will be the holder of the scrum-half position on Saturday. “We know that the slightest lost ball can end with a hundred-yard try. We will have to be structured in our game, play patiently, and avoid losing 17 balls as we did in Saint-Etienne [contre l’Ecosse]otherwise it will be a lot of points on the clock at the end », analyzed the Bordelais. Especially since the Fijians have made a strong impression in their previous preparation meetings, with three victories.
A test for the blue defense
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