Between the players with the flu (Gaël Fickou, Grégory Alldritt) and the pocket of ice wrapped around the left arm of the captain of the Blues Antoine Dupont, forced to shorten his training on Tuesday, the XV of France is coming out of a slightly hectic week. And she could go on. If the first three will be present, this will not be the case for Damian Penaud and Romain Taofifenua. The latter tested positive on Wednesday March 9, revealed the coach of the Blues, Fabien Galthié, and Raphaël Ibanez during the announcement of the composition of the teams.
“Having been there, I know it’s something hard to manage mentally. They (Penaud and Taofifenua) were packing their bags and they have to forfeit. We are saddened for them.”
Fabien Galthié, coach of the Bluesat the pre-match press conference on Wednesday
Other changes could take place before they face Wales on Friday evening (9 p.m.) in Cardiff, in the event of new positive cases. “We are preparing to be retested: we are awaiting information from the Six Nations Committee to find out if and when we will be retested”said Fabien Galthié. “Since the start of the Tournament, the players have been tested at each new meeting. We know how things are going at the moment in our society and we are prepared for it”supported the manager of the Blues, Raphaël Ibanez.
Moreover, the victorious group (36-17) against Scotland was largely renewed. Bordelo-Béglais Cameron Woki is again lined up in the cage – hear second line – alongside Paul Willemse. The Cros-Alldritt-Jelonch third line trio, who scored the All Blacks in November, the Irish, then the Scots in the 2022 Six Nations, also continues.
Among the notable changes, the twirling Gabin Villière is back on the wing (absent against Scotland due to a sinus fracture) where Yoram Moefana had brilliantly replaced him. The latter will start this time on the wing left vacant by Damian Penaud. Among the finishers, Mohamed Haouas was preferred to Demba Bamba. The Montpellier pillar has not played with the Blues since March 26, 2021 and a defeat against Scotland (27-23). “Today, he is the strongest. He performs particularly well with us in training and he plays games with his club”simply justified Fabien Galthié.
The XV of France against Wales : Jaminet – Moefana, Fickou, Danty, Villière – (o) Ntamack, (m) Dupont (cap) – Alldritt, Cros, Jelonch- Willemse, Woki – Atonio, Marchand, Baille.
Finishers: Mauvaka, Gros, Haouas, Flament, Cretin, Lucu, Lebel, Ramos.