Romain Ntamack forfeits the World Cup, a blow for the XV of France

2023-08-14 11:00:18

Less than a month from the start of the World Cup, this is very bad news for the French rugby team: opener Romain Ntamack announced on Monday that he will not participate. Centerpiece of the workforce of the Blues, the Toulouse player suffers from a rupture of the cruciate ligament of the left knee. In addition, the left pillar Cyril Baille will be absent “five to six weeks” due to a right calf injury, and will therefore miss the start of the competition.

Published on: 08/14/2023 – 11:00Modified on: 08/14/2023 – 10:58

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Big blow for the Blues: the opener of the XV of France Romain Ntamack, hit in the knee, must forfeit the World Cup, organized in France from September 8 to October 28. Other bad news, the left pillar Cyril Baille will miss at least the start of the competition.

Ntamack, opening half of Toulouse (24 years old, 37 selections), touched Saturday against Scotland (30-27), suffers from a rupture of the cruciate ligament of the left knee. On the evening of the victory against the XV of Chardon, in Saint-Étienne, Fabien Galthié had not however shown any real concern, evoking “a small hyper extension of the knee”. “We preferred to take it out so that it remained without consequence”, had even specified the coach. Unfortunately, additional examinations on Sunday and Monday confirmed that the injury was much more serious.

This is terrible news for the opening half but also for the staff of the France team, who have made Toulouse a centerpiece of their game since the arrival of Galthié on the bench in January 2020. Without Ntamack on the ground, including summer tours, the Blues only turn to 61.5% of victories (against 87.5% with).

Now, just over three weeks before the start of the World Cup (September 8-October 28), Galthié will have to decide who will be associated with the essential Antoine Dupont in the hinge.

A puzzle to replace it

On Saturday, the versatile Thomas Ramos (28 years old, 26 caps) had taken the place of number 10 when Ntamack left, replaced numerically by the young winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey (20 years old, two caps).

But the metronome Ramos, number 1 scorer of the Blues, seems well installed at the back and the opening half Matthieu Jalibert (24 years old, 24 selections) therefore seems to hold the rope … unless the Rochelais Antoine Hastoy (26 years, three selections) does the double in the last straight line.

So many questions that form a puzzle for the management of the XV of France. Especially since another bad news arrived in the morning: the pillar Cyril Baille, also affected against Scotland in Saint-Étienne, suffers from a “musculo-aponeurotic detachment of the internal gastrocnemius”.

Injured in the right calf, the Toulousain will be absent “five to six weeks”, according to the Federation, and he will return at best for the end of the group stage, against Namibia (September 21) or Italy (October 6).

At the heart of this grayness, a corner of blue sky has nevertheless appeared: a little more than five months after his left knee operation, the third line of the Toulouse Stadium Anthony Jelonch, also considered a manager, will find him in the XV of France.

With AFP