The very occasional rugby follower who will turn on his television, enticed by the prospect of an England-France to brighten up his confined Sunday afternoon, will quickly wonder where he fell. If the XV de la Rose will appear on his Twickenham lawn with the armada which earned him a finalist place at the last World Cup, in 2019 in Japan, the Blues will start with a slightly bis team if we want be nice, downright ter to be honest.
If the Dupont, Ollivon, Vakatawa or Le Roux dry up this Crunch and this final of the Autumn Nations Cup after having played a group match in Scotland two weeks ago, it is not for the pleasure of finding the Top 14 clashes but because of an agreement reached in mid-October between the French Federation and the National Rugby League, the clubs representative.
Three games maximum per player for six games on the program
The deal had to settle a simple problem: who should play the six games of an autumn calendar of the XV of France upset by the Covid-19 pandemic? On the program: the end of the Six Nations Tournament against Ireland, this autumn Cup of Nations created from scratch to compensate for the absence of a tour of the major nations of the southern hemisphere in Europe and a friendly match against the country Wales in addition.
Leaving to free the internationals five matches, the Top 14 clubs, on the other hand, never wanted to give up for the additional meeting required by the FFR, under the aegis of World Rugby, the international federation. The quarrel turned into open war. Seized, the Council of State referred the two parties to a negotiation. Which led to the following compromise: OK for six games, but on condition that no player exceeds the three match sheets.
Stuck by this compromise, Fabien Galthié and his staff made a clear choice: align their executives during the first three meetings. The goal: to avoid exposing the group of holders to injuries by making them shuttles between their club and the selection and thus increase their common experience. Exit therefore the option of a mix between holders and reservists to arrive with a more experienced team this Sunday for the final.
“We cannot blame the clubs for not having wanted to play the game”
The meeting against Fiji canceled due to a Covid-19 epidemic in the ranks of Pacific players, the group, revealed in the first part of the year, beat the Welsh in a friendly, the Irish in the last so important match of the Six Nations Tournament for the final classification, and the Scots before handing over to another group of tricolors. Whose victory against the Italians (36-5) gave him the formidable privilege of going to challenge the English.
“The endurance of the FFR led to this masquerade of Crunch, loose a leader of French rugby. We must not come to lecture the clubs if we take a correction on Sunday because they could have had a better agreement by being more flexible. “” We can not blame the clubs for not having wanted to play the game on this shock against England because we were not even asked to release our players, blows the general manager of the Stade Français, Thomas Lombard. I’m not saying that everyone would have greeted this additional request with a smile. But if you don’t ask, you can’t know. “
Contacted through the press service of the FFR, its president Bernard Laporte did not wish to comment again on the conditions of this agreement. On the side of the broadcaster France Televisions, we ensure not to be upset by this Crunch at a discount and we point to the good audiences of this XV of France ter, which gathered more than four million viewers against Italy. Who at least had time to familiarize themselves with those who will now challenge the English.
