21 neophytes were selected for the tour in Australia. How many will join the ranks of these ephemeral internationals, who have known only one or two selections, the time of a kamikaze tour?
For fifteen years, and this bad habit of sacrificing summer tours in the southern hemisphere, however irreplaceable in terms of experience, we no longer count the Blues enlisted by force to play the liners at the end of the world and forgotten once the XV of France returned to the country. The New Zealand tour in June 2007 is a model of its kind. Deprived of the semi-finalists of the Top 14 (Stade Français, Biarritz, Clermont, Toulouse), Bernard Laporte selects young people enthusiastic about the idea of donning the blue jersey for the first time. They will be executed without batting an eyelid by executioners dressed in black.
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A first rout, June 2 in Auckland, 42 to 11. Before the capital sinking, 61 to 10, June 9 in Wellington. A dozen of these Blues will never be called back to the French team: centers Arnaud Mignardi and Lionel Mazars, winger Jean-François Coux, number 10 Nicolas Laharrague, scrum backs Mickaël Forest and Nicolas Durand, flanker Grégory Le Corvec, the second-line Olivier Olibeau, the pillars Franck Montanella and Olivier Sourgens (first and only selection at 35). Fallen for the Fatherland …
The following year, the tour in Australia also made some victims: the back of Bayonne Jean-Baptiste Peyras-Loustalet, the winger David Janin, the center Thibault Lacroix, the third-row Yannick Caballero, the pillars Pierre Corréia and Renaud Boyoud (who will however add a third selection end in 2009) or the coach’s brother, Matthieu Lièvremont. In the archives, we find traces of a few more of these summer castaways. Pillars: Denis Avril (2005 tour in Australia), Yvan Watremez (2012 tour in Argentina), Mohamed Boughanmi (2016 tour in South Africa). But also winger Félix Le Bourhis (2014 tour in Australia) or second row William Demotte (2016 tour in Argentina). Among others …
By playing this tour, this young group must have the goal of gaining experience and revealing themselves. They should only have that in mind
Raphael Ibanez
References that can make the neo-Bleus fear the worst of this new sacrificed tour. Like their predecessors, they still prefer, for the moment, to believe that they have everything to gain rather than everything to lose. “We know what people can think of it but it does not affect us more than that“, Ensures the third row of the LOU, Dylan Cretin, who however already has 10 selections. Ditto for the center of the Stade Français Paris Jonathan Danty (6 selections). “The sporting interest of this tour, everyone thinks what they want. But we, the players, are naturally in a positive frame of mind. We know the number of players who took advantage of tours of this kind to seize their chance and settle in the France team when they did not enter the foreground of the coaches.»
2007 kamikaze tour in New Zealand
If we refer to the 2007 kamikaze tour in New Zealand, we find traces of … three neophytes who managed to settle permanently with the Blues: Julien Pierre (25 selections in the end), Fulgence Ouedraogo (38 ) and Damien Chouly (39). Three out of fifteen neophytes, the ratio is hardly high. But, indeed, a small chance exists. Who would become great in case of exploit (s) in Australia where the XV of France has not won since … 1990!
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Manager Raphaël Ibanez assures him to believe it. “All the players present are legitimate. They are asked to switch to a champion mentality. By playing this tour, this young group must have the goal of gaining experience and revealing themselves. They should only have that in mind.“Message received if we are to believe the young flanker of Racing 92, Ibrahim Diallo (22 years). “We don’t have a complex. We know that we are a very young team, with very few selections. But we are here to prove that we all deserve our place in the France team and try to win our place for the next deadlines.” So far so good…
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