Romain Ntamack, repositioned in the center against Argentina (29-20) to leave the opening to Matthieu Jalibert, “is not sacrificed at all”, assured Thursday the coach of the backs of the XV of France, Laurent Labit, before the second autumnal test against Georgia Sunday in Bordeaux, where the association could be renewed.
What is your opinion on the association between Ntamack and Jalibert against the Pumas last Saturday?
Laurent Labit: We are in the continuity of what we have been doing for three weeks now even if, of course, we had a little bitter taste at the end of the match on what we had worked very well in training and what ‘we have not, at times, managed to set up during the match. It was a game of recovery for the team and nothing tells us that with two real centers, we would have done better. We had a lot of expectations to have Matthieu and Romain play. During the match, we had trouble finding our way around what we had done in training, to always have these two players in fusion. We knew that we would not only have dynamic and fast balls to play … We lost a little time on the rucks, we badly negotiated situations that we had on game choices that did not were not in accordance with what we had prepared. We also knew that it was not in a match, in this case in 50 minutes (Ntamack replaced by Jonathan Danty in the 54th, editor’s note), that we would find the perfect copy despite the great quality of these players. .
Ntamack seemed marked when he left the lawn …
He was marked because he knew, like us and like the players around, that we had not been able to put him in the arrangements in which we wanted to play him. He is a great competitor. He knows the great confidence we have in him since we worked together and in particular the World Cup in Japan (2019). We discussed with him and also with Matthieu on choices that could have been better. We had solutions to, despite everything, do better. Responsibility is shared. It’s not just focused on Romain.
How to fight against the idea that Ntamack could be sacrificed to align this association?
Sacrifice, it’s you who say it! Romain is not sacrificed at all. We are always transparent with the players, we exchange a lot with them to be effective. We are also with you (the media) since the sessions (training) are open and we have nothing to hide. Romain is a player to be relied on. We know very well that he excels at the opening and he has always been there and has always been very good with us. If we put it in the center, it is surely not to sacrifice it, on the contrary, but to be better and more efficient in our game.