mens
nations-championship
France’s injury crisis deepened five days before theirs Nations Championship reckoning with South Africa after Paul Boudehent became the latest player to be sent off.
The La Rochelle winger started and scored in Saturday’s 54-17 win over Fiji, but a calf injury ruled him out of the squad, which was confirmed on Sunday. Stade Français lock Paul Gabrillagues was called up in his place.
Boudehent joins the casualty list in a pack that already includes Emmanuel Meafou, Thibaud Flament, Demba Bamba, and Marko Gazzotti, Oscar Jegou and Anthony Jelonch in the back row alone.
The picture is even more worrying behind the scrum. Romain Ntamack was forced out Fiji with a shoulder injury and a French exit The team reported on Sunday that scans had confirmed the dislocation, which is expected to be about two months away.
His absence leaves Fabien Galthié without his top four options at half-time. Matthieu Jalibert remains sidelined with a quad injury, Thomas Ramos has a leg problem and Antoine Hastoy is unavailable with an ankle injury.
Nolann Le Garrec and Fabien Brau-Boirie have also been dropped, depriving the backline of added depth that is now preparing to face the world champions.
Louis Carbonel has consequently been withdrawn from the 42-man squad, while uncapped pair Axel Desperes and Louis Le Brun remain among the available fly-half options alongside nine-man Leo Barre. Maxime Lucu, normally a scrum-half, replaced Ntamack against Fiji and finished the match in 10th place, something he has done this season in Bordeaux-Bègles colors in Jaliberto’s absence.
Galthié also has Antoine Dupont and versatile Toulouse youngster Kalvin Gourgues as an urgent alternative.
France however, he produced eight tries against Fiji, with Dupont and their backline revealing more fluidity as the match wore on.
But the challenge that awaits them at the Stade de France is much greater.
With Boudehent now added to an already congested injury list and stocks virtually bare, Galthie has just days to rebuild key parts of his squad before facing the world’s No. 1s for the final time before a potential World Cup semi-final next year.
