France World Cup buildup

First topic message reminder :

As France prepare for their first match, away to Scotland, thought i would post their current 42 man squad.

Forwards:  
Props:  Cyril Baille, Reda Wardi, Jean-Baptiste Gros, Uini Atonio, Dorian Aldegheri, Demba Bamba, Sipili Falatea.

Hookers:  Julien Marchand, Peato Mauvaka, Pierre Bourgarit

Second row:  Cameron Woki, Thibeaud Flament, Romain Taofifenua, Paul Willemse, Bastien Chalureau, Florian Verhaeghe.

Back Row:  Gregory Alldritt, Charles Ollivon, Francois Cros, Sekou Macalou, Paul Boudehent, Dylan Cretin, Yoan Tanga.


Backs:
Scrum-half:  Antoine Dupont, Maxime Lucu, Baptiste Couilloud, Baptiste Serin.

Fly-half:  Romian Ntamack, Matthieu Jalibert, Antoine Hastoy.

Centres:  Gael Fickou, Jonathan Danty, Yoram Moefana, Arthur Vincent, Emilien Gailleton.

Wingers/ Fullbacks:  Damien Penaud, Gabin Villière, Thomas Ramos, Melvyn Jaminet, Ethan Dumortier, Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Brice Dulin.

Only 2 players unavailable for selection:

Francois Cros has a thigh strain but may be available for the return match against Scotland in Saint Etienne.

Romain Taofifenua has a a hamstring injury that is likely to keep him out for 3/4 weeks. Wont play before the squad is cut to 33.

Curry's isn't really a comparable case. It is to Kriel's but the key difference being Kriel makes contact on the ball fractionally before head-on-head. Whereas Curry's contact is fractionally head first. Which apparently is the difference between a red card and 2 game ban compared to not even a penalty with how the framework is being applied. Which is frankly moronic when both tacklers are too upright and the sanctions are supposed to be lowering tackle height. But there we go.

Tamififenau's is more similar to Farrell's in that he's not in a legal position (arm tucked) so no mitigation should be applied. Yet it was. So it's a yellow. Perplexingly. Whether that changes at citing who knows currently.

It feels like WR have tried to avoid controversy at the RWC by getting the bunker to make decisions hidden away slightly. Which I actually prefer compared to the refs doing it on the big screen with the crowd screaming at them. What WR seem to have forgotten is that the internet exists. So just because the bunker make decisions tucked away slightly doesn't mean that fans won't ever see the incidents again. Which is a hilariously rugby way to even further f*** something up.

From what I'm reading in the protocol the indirect v direct bit should only be a consideration when deciding on the level of danger - so apparently Curry's was highly dangerous but Kriel's wasn't at all dangerous according to the officials - bizarre ...

But the reasoning for why Curry's was foul play was that he was too upright, so he couldn't receive mitigation for the sudden change in height of Mallia falling out of the sky (and crouching even before he lands).

Kriel, on the other hand, came in as high as Curry if not higher, but was allowed mitigation because he hit the ball first. Even from the reverse angle there is clear head contact.

The Japan-Chile incident was even clearer - the player had line of sight (even though he was looking at the ball), was upright and had definite head contact.

And Taofifenua looks worst of all - upright, arms never legal, direct head contact and although there's another tackler involved, they don't appear to change the height of the ball carrier at all in the lead up to contact - the ball carrier is already quite low and the tackler does nothing to change it.

[TAS analytics soundtrack] Where is the consistency? [/TAS Analytics soundtrack]

France 23 for Namibia game. Baillie starts and Jelonch gets another run out at 8. Danty gets his first start of the WC.

Close to full strength whilst allowing some possible bench players for the Italy game another opportunity to stake a claim:

1. Baille
2. Mauvaka
3. Atonio
4. Woki
5. Flament
6. Cros
7. Ollivon
8. Jelonch

9. Dupont (c)
10. Jalibert
11. Bielle-Biarrey
12. Danty
13. Fickou
14. Penaud
15 Ramos

Bench
16. Bourgarit
17. Wardi
18. Aldegheri
19. Taofifenua
20. Boudehent
21. Couilloud
22  Moefana
23. Jaminet

Looks like they are settling on their starting team going forward from here.

Having Baille back is a big bonus for them and yhey will be hoping Danty will ready for the Italy game.

With 2 weeks off after this match until Italy on 6 th October Danty should have plenty of time to be ready for that game, assuming he makes it through Thursday night unscathed.

Surprised they have gone for Moefana over Vincent.
Moefana was shaky against the AB' s and Uruguay
Vincent was good off the bench in the first match but also poor against the south Americans

For Italy I think with Willemse missing they may still go 6 - 2 bench with Jelonch in place of a second row and moving Ollivon forward allowing France to keep Ollivon, Jelonch, Aldritt and Cros on at the finish. 4 class backrowers to compensate for the lack of Willemse' s power in the first half.

Plus they can also bring Macalou onto the wing for Villiere to bring his ludicrous finishing speed and physical presence for cross field kicks.

Certainly don't think Chalureau will figure in the knockout matches.

Brilliant French performance, sadly completely overshadowed by the facial injury Dupont sustained from head on head contact in a tackle.

Rumours are that he has a fracture of the cheek bone which will mean he will not be available until the semi final (if they make it that far).

Hopefully this rumour isn't true, for the sake of the tournament as much as for the sake of France.

Another pointless game in the world cup and now Dupont is hurt in the process. France could have stuck with the team from Uruguay, they still would have scored at least 60.

Orbital damage is the latest update which is apparently a worse prognosis.

It is just unfortunate

Galthe was asked at the presser why he did not pull him at HT and he said that they have a 2 week break now and they all wanted and needed some gametime. He was due to get hooked at 55 mins.

Other players have got injured training, what can you do?

BigGee wrote:It is just unfortunate

Galthe was asked at the presser why he did not pull him at HT and he said that they have a 2 week break now and they all wanted and needed some gametime. He was due to get hooked at 55 mins.

Other players have got injured training, what can you do?

Precisely my view. Marx was a gun against Scotland then got crocked in training. It happens in contact sport. In this case it's heart breaking though, sadly. Dupont is the best player in the world and a decent number are already discussing whether he's one of the best ever. Which is remarkable given he's so young. I can see the reason though. I'm not sure I've ever seen a player positively impact a game for his team so often and so significantly.

It's doubly brutal for France given they'd already significantly shifted their game plan with Ntamack injured. Dupont had taken on most of the tactical kicking duties without him. Losing both members of the best halfback pairing in the game is brutal. Then it's a home RWC for France. It's just a sad situation.

Positive news from the French camp. Dupont's surgery has gone well.
He will re-joining the squad, according to this quote from Reuters interview with Les Bleus manager:

"He will see the surgeon (Frederic Lauwers) for a post-surgery assessment. We're waiting for this assessment that should happen quite quickly.

"He will also undergo some neurological checks... so that we can see when he can gradually return to physical activity. We're hoping for a pretty quick return."

"A return for the quarter-finals? We can't ask ourselves that question, there are so many things to assess," Boussagol said.

"We're not looking ahead to that, just to his return to the group. Obviously, we want to see him as soon as possible. I don't think we'll be able to see him against Italy. I'm convinced of that. It's going to happen week by week, depending on how he feels."

Given that Brad Barrett was able to play a week after having the same surgery, I think almost 3 weeks recovery should be enough, assuming no complications (infection etc.)

France team for Italy. Full strength apart from Dupont and Marchant, who is still not fully recovered from his hamstring injury.
Jelonch preferred over Cros. 5- 3 bench split again.

Looks like 20 year old Bielle-Biarrey is in line to replace Gabin Villiere on the wing for the QF., assuming they get there.
A really big call.

1. Baille
2. Mauvaka
3. Atonio
4. Woki
5. Flament
6. Jelonch
7. Ollivon (c)
8. Alldritt (not Jelonch's twin brother!)

9. Lucu
10. Jalibert
11. Bielle-Biarrey
12. Danty
13. Fickou
14. Penaud
15 Ramos

Bench
16. Bourgarit
17. Wardi
18. Aldegheri
19. Taofifenua
20. Cros
21. Couilloud
22  Moefana
23. Jaminet

are there two Jelonch’s for France?

Thanks for the heads up Mikey, one Jelonch is enough for France.

That's a big and powerful back-row. All are decent at the breakdown too.