Fourteen players were returned to their clubs by the XV of France this Wednesday, January 26, including Toulouse’s Thibault Flament and Matthis Lebel. Thibaud Flament tested positive for covid, he was replaced for the preparation course for the Six Nations Tournament by Bordeaux-Bègles player Cameron Woki. Stade Toulousains winger Matthis Lebel, like the second line of Castres Florent Vanverberghe, were made available to their clubs, in accordance with the agreement between the FFR and the LNR. The XV of France is currently training in the south of France to prepare for the first match of the 2022 Six Nations Tournament, against Italy, on February 6.
“Antoine Dupont is fine”
In addition, the captain of the XV of France Antoine Dupont, absent from the start of the preparation course for the 2022 Six Nations Tournament, “is doing well”, said Wednesday the coach of the Blues Fabien Galthié. “I got him, we traded: he’s fine. He resumed training two weeks ago. He wanted to play (against Cardiff, in the European Cup, editor’s note) but the match could not be played “Besides, he tested positive for covid afterwards. But he’s fine, he’s still training.” confided Galthié at a press conference. “He has a test at his club and, depending on the results, he will play with Stade Toulousain or not. That is the decision of his manager Ugo Mola and I trust him to make the best decision for his team and for Anthony, he further explained. The Toulouse scrum half (26 years old, 35 caps), recently named the best player in the world, has not played since mid-December. He returned to training early last week after experiencing knee pain. Initially summoned to the list of 42 players to prepare for the 2022 Tournament, Dupont had to forfeit after testing positive for Covid-19, along with several of his teammates in Toulouse, including Romain Ntamack, Cyril Baille, François Cros or Anthony Jelonch. “We talk to all the players. From a distance of course. We have good news about the players and their state of health, their state of mind. They are fine”, completed the boss of the Blues.
The XV of France is gathered in the south of France for a preparation course for the Six Nations Tournament (February 5-March 19). The Blues face Italy, February 6 at the Stade de France.