Towards changes in the starting fifteen of the Blues against England?
So far, in this Six Nations Tournament, Fabien Galthié and his assistants have always trusted the same players to start and finish the matches, except for injuries or suspensions. The idea, often repeated, was to increase the collective experience of these players called to play in the next World Cup. Will this guideline go all the way to the end of the competition?
This Tuesday’s training at Marcoussis has cast doubt, because under the blue chasubles of the usual holders did not appear three of the executives of this fifteen from France, all positioned in the camp opposite, with white chasubles: the n °8 Grégory Alldritt, replaced by Yoan Tanga, the left pillar Cyril Baille, replaced by Reda Wardi, and the second row Paul Willemse, replaced by Romain Taofifenua.
No doubt it will be necessary to wait for Wednesday’s high-intensity training to have a more precise idea of the coach’s choices, but this first trial run already gives a small trend.
Falatea and Cros on pole
Other lessons of the day: it is Bordeaux’s Sipili Falatea who was training with the potential holders for the position of right pillar and could therefore replace Uini Atonio and Mohamed Haouas (suspended) at Twickenham. As expected, it is also the Toulousain François Cros, author of a good comeback in Scotland, who should replace the injured Anthony Jelonch (knee) in the third line.
The three-quarter line should not undergo any changes. At least in the starting fifteen, since among the finishers should appear Bordeaux scrum-half Maxime Lucu and, perhaps, La Rochelle center Jonathan Danty. It was in any case the meaning of the session on Tuesday, knowing that the composition of the bench could then evolve towards a 5-3 (five forwards, three three-quarters).
Finally, it should be noted that the Toulousains who played Sunday evening at Racing 92 (Mauvaka, Lebel, Jaminet, Barassi) were spared and that the training was followed by a distinguished guest, the international handball player Nikola Karabatic.
