Return of executives, Australian heroes and captain to be appointed, the lessons of Galthié’s list

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It has been a few months now that we have been impatiently awaiting the lists of the France group for the various annual meetings. Not that we lost interest in it before, but the ambient grimness of the tricolor rugby did not push us frankly to be assiduous at the meeting. Now that the Blues have regained a certain standing (how’s that, rugbyx?), Here we start to follow the announcements of Fabien Galthié and Raphaël Ibanez. And the one made this Monday for the autumn tour – Argentina (November 6, at the Stade de France), Georgia (November 14, in Bordeaux) and New Zealand (November 20, at the Stade de France ) – gave us some lessons.

As with each list of the XV of France, it is necessary to take out the calculator, to make additions, subtractions, to become the number of players who will make up the group a little each day. Fabien Galthié managed to reach an agreement with the clubs so that 42 players are called up for this November tour. “These 42 players are essential in our training methodology,” says Raphaël Ibañez, manager of the Blues.

To avoid a single club being greatly penalized, at least five clubs had to have between one and three selected players. This does not prevent the Stade Toulousain from having ten players taken by the blue patrol. For the rest, “28 players will be retained by the federation and 14 players will be made available to their club, which they will join on Wednesday evening,” said Ibanez. And ten U20 players will complete the group for the training sessions. It’s good for everyone ?

  • Feedback expected from executives

Absent from the tour in Australia, left to rest or injured, several executives of the Blues are making their return to selection. Starting, of course, with Antoine Dupont, the scrum half of Stade Toulousain, and best player in the world (yes, we decided that way). He is supported in particular by his partners at the Rouge et Noir such as Ntamack, Marchand, Baille, Ramos and the other nuggets of our Top 14 talents such as Jalibert (Bordeaux), Vakatawa (Racing), Willemse (Montpellier) … “We are very happy to find our best French team at the moment. It had been nine and a half months since we had been able to do it, ”said Fabien Galthié.

  • The winners of the southern tour

Even if it had ended in a negative balance (two defeats and a victory), the tour in Australia had been a success for the Blues, deprived of its executives. Some took the opportunity to show off, such as Anthony Jelonch (Toulouse), Melvyn Jaminet (Perpignan), Cameron Woki (Bordeaux), Gaetan Barlot (Castres), Antoine Hastoy (Pau) or Jonathan Danty (La Rochelle). The coach has notably had a little word more for Jelonch (be careful, do not say the “cheee” at the end), which “has given complete satisfaction. He was a heroic captain, who carried the colors of the France team in Australia high. “

Between the returning executives and the sure values ​​of the tour, there were not many places to enter this group of 42 players. Three names stand out: Thibaud Flament, second row from Stade Toulousain, who is making a big start to the season after trips to Argentina or England; Maxime Lucu, the n ° 9 of the UBB who benefits in particular from the absence of Baptiste Serin and Mathis Lebel, the winger of the Stade Toulousain, second best scorer of the Top 14 tests last season (12). Note also the selections of Tani Vili (Clermont) and Romain Buros (Bordeaux) in the three-quarter line and Floran Vanverbergue (Castres) in the forwards. Present in Australia, however, they had not played a minute of play.

  • The captain is still not decided

In the absence of Charles Ollivon, still injured, the captain’s armband is to be taken. Well, obviously, we’re not going to give it to the first comer. Five players are in the running to recover it for this fall tour, according to the Ibanez: Gaël Fickou, Julien Marchand, Antoine Dupont, Gregory Alldritt and Anthony Jelonch. “This is a central question that occupied our minds with all of the management. We gave more thought to the question of leadership within a team. A captain must meet several criteria: performance, generosity, humility, loyalty. Charles Ollivon will be present with the group to pass the baton to the new captain. “


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