1
Cameron Woki walkout fuels speculation around French unrest
By Ian Cameron
An apparent decision by France second row Cameron Woki to opt out of traveling to Cardiff with the national team as the 24th man - choosing instead to return to his club Racing 92 - has cast fresh doubt on the tenure of head coach Fabien Galthie.
This decision comes after Woki was excluded from the 23-man matchday squad following a series of performances that failed to meet expectations. Despite coming off the bench against Ireland and starting in France’s last two Tests, Woki has struggled to make a significant impact.
Galthie then announced a new second-row pairing of Emmanuel Meafou and Thibaud Flament to start, with Romain Taofifenua named on the bench, with Woki set to travel as the 24th man.
The revelation of Woki's refusal to serve as a backup was brought to light by Bernard Jackman during RTE's coverage of the Wales-France match, highlighting a potential rift within Galthie's squad. The former Dragons head coach has good contacts in France from his time in charge of Grenoble.
This apparent act of defiance by Woki points to deeper issues of unrest and dissatisfaction within the French setup, which has been underwhelming in their Six Nations campaign thus far.
While their win over Wales this afternoon will help, the incident will place Fabien Galthie under more pressure, with the French press and rugby public setting high expectations for the team.
Galthie - who has been hailed for revitalizing French rugby and leading them to notable successes in recent years - now faces scrutiny over his squad management and tactical decisions in the absence of superstar halfback Antoine Dupont, who is away playing sevens.
Trending on RugbyPass
2
'Damaging' Jordie Barrett move only helps All Blacks- ex-Ireland wing
3
OTD – Declan Kidney takes step up into Test rugby
4
Max Deegan opts to stay at Leinster over Ulster move
5
Latest Comments
Brumbies are looking good and if they keep their home form up a final is not beyond the realms of possibility. They showed against the Hurricanes exactly how clinical they can be as they absorbed pressure in that contest while also scoring points and applying their own pressure. Reds are well placed as well but need to find consistency. They are building a longer term project with a young side and plenty of quality players. Been surprising to see the strength of Aussie sides this year after the debacle of the world cup. Have NZ sides gotten weaker? Have Aussie sides gotten stronger? A bit of both I would say. Whatever the case its good to see some actual competition between NZ and Aus sides again and thats exactly what the fans wanted and is probably driving better viewership numbers. All of this can only be healthy for Aus and Super Rugby and I hope the Brumbies go all the way.
Go to commentsDead time reductions are important as is ball in play time increases. Premiership leads the way in terms of ball in play and Northern refereeing standards around the breakdown has sped up the game significantly. Super Rugby is trying new things but its not leading the way in terms of making gains in reducing dead time and ball in play time. Northern administrators are also not against speeding up the game, on the contrary they want a faster game and have been trying things and are embracing increasing the speed of rugby. Super Rugby isnt providing a blueprint for anything, its just part the agreed upon blueprint that administrators across the world are moving to.
Go to comments