While the France one of their vice-captains, Charles Ollivon. Toulon’s third row, slightly injured in the calf during Monday’s training, was spared on Tuesday. He is therefore fit again, while Fabien Galthié’s men will face Italy next Friday in Lyon.
In front of more than 2,000 spectators present at the Georges-Carcassonne stadium, Ollivon participated in the entire session. “The monitorings he took were not very good after Namibia. He felt discomfort in his calf and we arranged his sessions. This Thursday, he carried out 50% of the rugby load without any particular problem, and will be at 100% again from Sunday“, explained Bruno Boussagol, health manager of the French XV after training.
Julien Marchand, on the other hand, once again took his place on the bench. The Blues hooker, hit in the left thigh against New Zealand during the French’s first match, was once again spared. It could still be relaunched on October 6 against Italy. “We are in the reathletics phase with the physical trainers, he has reached 80% of his maximum speed. We are considering a gradual resumption of the field and rugby next week, a little ahead of schedule, but we will remain cautious“, explained the Blues doctor at a press conference.
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Finally, third-row Paul Boudehent, released on concussion protocol during the match against Namibia, is still in the recovery phase and did not participate in Thursday’s session either. He should return to the group on Sunday. Before finding Antoine Dupont, who will be back this weekend in the France group, the Blues benefit from two new days of rest, Friday and Saturday. Before getting to the heart of the matter and the preparation for this last match which serves as the real round of 16.