The Top 14 semi-finals, Friday and Saturday in San Sebastian, may prove decisive for some players in the race for a place in the World Cup, less than two weeks from the announcement of Fabien Galthié’s first list.
Three months before the start of the World Cup, the Top 14 semi-finals (Toulouse-Racing 92 Friday June 9 at 9 p.m., La Rochelle-Bordeaux-Bègles Saturday June 10 at 5 p.m.) in San Sebastian (Spain), take a particular challenge for a handful of players. “Some will want to stand out to be selected”, indicates Imanol Harinordoquy, 82 selections between 2002 and 2012 and consultant for France Télévisions. While 23 players – non-participants in the semi-finals – are training at Marcoussis, these ax meetings can prove decisive, in view of the first expanded list of 42 selected, unveiled on June 21 by coach Fabien Galthié.
The duel: Hastoy awaits the opening against Jalibert
This is one of the great stories of these semi-finals. The La Rochelle-UBB match pits two openers in direct competition for the World Cup, Antoine Hastoy (26) and Matthieu Jalibert (24). Stakes ? The place of “second opener” in the hierarchy of the Blues, behind Romain Ntamack. The Bordelo-Béglais (23 selections), brilliant in the barrage in Lyon, leaves with a head start on his La Rochelle counterpart (2 caps), but his precarious physique in recent months remains a question mark.
Arrived from Pau in the off-season, Hastoy melted into the La Rochelle animation, which he animates brilliantly. “However, it’s hard to fit into a group that has just recently won Europe”, poses Dimitri Yachvili, rugby consultant for France Télévisions. Better still, the Béarnais, despite having had no major experience in the final phase before, was one of the players in the La Rochelle double in the Champions Cup. “He led the game and took responsibility for the goal in the final, it’s anything but obvious.”, greets Yashvili. Regularly summoned for gatherings with the Blues but rarely aligned, Hastoy has the assets to overthrow the hierarchy.
The UFO: Bielle-Biarrey is already ready
Easily recognizable with his red helmet and his youthful face, Louis Bielle-Biarrey (Bordeaux-Bègles) no longer hides his goal. “I’ve never been so close” of the World Cup, he confided Thursday to The Team about what was yet still “from the realm of dreams” not long ago. But the young winger or fullback (he will be 20 on June 19), launched into the deep end in January 2022 and now a regular starter at UBB, has the perfect profile of “the UFO” dear to Galthié.
Even if he has no selection, he is, like Hastoy, used to comings and goings to Marcoussis for training courses. Proof of his interest in the player, the Federation left him at the disposal of the Blues, when he was to participate in the U20 World Cup. “Playing a World Cup without having played international matches is risky, but it has already been seen”, notes Dimitri Yachvili. The first final stages of his young career could remove the last doubts.
The ghost: Woki has no more time
Within a Racing 92 team that was in its infancy for a long time, Cameron Woki (20 caps) had a contrasting season. “A little behind in relation to its objectives” after his arrival last summer, as his trainer Didier Casadeï conceded to Parisian [article réservé aux abonnés] in March, he suffered a scaphoid injury in January preventing him from participating in the Tournament. Holder of the position of number 4 with the Blues until then, Woki was supplanted by the emergence of a Thibaut Flament, bluffing.
Back at the end of March, he was one of the architects of the end of the cannon season for Racing, narrowly qualified for the final stages, and played in the play-off against Stade Français (33-20 victory) in its entirety. Now used as… third line at Ciel et Blanc, his favorite position before Fabien Galthié installed him in the second line, Woki will try to show himself in a decisive match.
The question: Meafou, hope in the face of the legal imbroglio
Fabien Galthié wants the “capture”. The Toulouse colossus Emmanuel Meafou (2.03 m, 140 kg) presents an extremely powerful second line profile much sought after at international level. Unstoppable at Stade Toulouse, he could quickly become one with the Blues. But the staff of the XV of France is facing, for the time being, a legal imbroglio. Meafou, of Australian nationality, has been playing in France since December 2018 and is selectable, according to World Rugby rules, after five years, in December 2023 therefore. Three months too late to compete in the World Cup.
But the rule changed in January 2022: previously, three years on the soil of a country was enough. Emmanuel Meafou was therefore selectable in December 2021 before no longer being a month later. However, in a similar case, New Zealand won its case to select a Tongan player, Folau Fakatava, in July 2022. FFR lawyers hope that this case law will help them capture Meafou. In the meantime, Galthié has taken the lead by inviting the player of gargantuan size to Marcoussis in March and will closely scrutinize his performance on Friday.