Romain Ntamack, an opener who has a sense of timing

Injured for eight months, the Stade Toulouse fly-half is back at his best before hosting Harlequins on Sunday in the Champions Cup semi-final.

The adversary is often the best judge. Nicknamed “the quiet facilitator” (“the silent entertainer”) by the English press (Charlie Morgan in The Telegraph Rugby Podcast), Romain Ntamack is the metronome of the Toulouse game. Away from the field for eight months after a rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee suffered in August 2023, he returned right on time, in April, to regain rhythm and gradually reach his best level before the decisive deadlines at the end of season. Starting with the reception of Harlequins on Sunday May 5, at the Toulouse Stadium for the Champions Cup semi-final (at 4 p.m. live on France 2 and france.tv)

Romain Ntamack is the Toulouse Chronos : master of time, he is an infallible regulator and a formidable game accelerator. In just a few weeks, since his return against Pau on March 30, the flyhalf seems to have found all his bearings. “It is true that my services are of good quality compared to the seriousness of my injury and the length of my absenceconfided Romain Ntamack in an interview with Midi Olympique this week. The work done pays off. I’m almost surprised at myself. I imagined everything would take longer.”

An express return to form

Against Harlequins, he will be associated with Antoine Dupont, a duo who took the French team to the Grand Slam in 2022 and Stade Toulouse to the national coronation last year. “We quickly found each otherattested Antoine Dupont himself, at a press conference on April 4. It’s as if we had never gotten lost, it reassured us. (…) We know the quality that Romain has, we also know his composure and his ability to be very present in the matches that count.” The two players share an extraordinary knowledge of the game, alternating between impeccable mastery of their score and brilliant improvisation sequences. It was not the scrum half’s move to the French rugby sevens team that disrupted this duo’s bearings.

Having entered less than half an hour for his return to competition, against Pau on March 30, Romain Ntamack then continued his starts at home : against Racing 92 in the Top 14, then against Exeter and Racing 92 again in the Champions Cup. Three almost full matches, with 70 minutes of play each time, for three victories and a try against Exeter, symbolic of his return to form.

Towards a second European coronation?

Still a titan in defense, after “gained a few kilos” by his own admission during his convalescence, Romain Ntamack is among those rare openers that even the most robust opponents do not target. He has now found his best legs again : those who, with a feint, can split the opposing curtain, as for his decisive try in the last moments of the Top 14 final against La Rochelle last year.

Never where you expect him to be, capable of catching the opponent from behind with an acceleration or delaying to put his teammates in the best possible position, he will be one of the key players in the semi-final against Harlequins.

The son of Emile Ntamack, six-time French champion and three-time European champion with Toulouse, will have an artist of his caliber to face on Sunday: the will-o’-the-wisp Marcus Smith, English international fly-half. “Marcus Smith is the symbol and playing master of Quins, remarks Romain Ntamack. He’s a hell of a player! We are the same age and we have somewhat followed the same path, competing against each other regularly. So he got some news during my rehabilitation.” Sunday at the Toulouse Stadium, the time for politeness will be over.