mens
nations-championship
France have lost fourth No.10 Romain Ntamack to injury, leaving head coach Fabien Galthié with a serious selection problem ahead of next week’s heavyweight clash with the Springboks at the Stade de France.
Ntamack left the field in the 33rd minute of France’s 54-17 win Fiji in Lyon on Saturday night, he held up his left arm after being tackled just short of the Fijian try-line. Without special cover no. 10 on the bench, midfielder Maxime Lucu came on and took over the role for the remaining 47 minutes.
The timing couldn’t have been worse for France, with both Matthieu Jalibert and Thomas Ramos sidelined with thigh injuries and Antoine Hastoy also unavailable after suffering an ankle injury last month.
The 22-year-old stands up Pau Star Axel Desperes and Castres’ 24-year-old Louis Le Brun are options for the coach, but both are uncapped at international level, and a wave of fans online decided they had a better idea: Antoine Dupont.
The French captain has played flyhalf eight times in his club career, most recently in 2024, but has never played the position at Test level. That didn’t stop a number of commentators from promoting the idea online when reacting to Ntamack’s injury.
The appeal appeared to be aided by Lucu’s recent form at full-back, and his ability to step in and take over the kicking duties so Dupont didn’t have to. Lucu has been a goal kicker throughout his professional career, and although he is not usually tasked with kicking the ball at international level, he stepped into the role during the July block of tournaments. Nations Championship and made five conversions against Fiji.
Fans believed that the two scrum-halves, together, could fill the flyhalf duties.
“Dupont at 10 and Luca at 9. Easy money,” was one of the comments on RugbyPass a post that highlighted the number of injuries in France’s 10th tier. Dozens of others came forward with the same idea.
There was some pushback, but rather than debating whether a specialist 10 would be better suited to the occasion, commentators debated which half-back would be a better option in the 10, noting that Lucu was the best option on Saturday night and has a handful of games more experience in that position, including Bordeaux’s recent Champions Cup draw against Gloucester.
Regardless of who Galthie turns to, it will be a trial by firearm against reigning world champions Rassi Erasmus.