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France hooker Julien Marchand faces race to make knockout stages
By Josh Raisey
France hooker Julien Marchand is unlikely to play any part in the remainder of France's World Cup pool stages after picking up a hamstring injury against the All Blacks on Friday.
The Toulouse No2 began the match with heavy strapping on his left thigh, and could not even make it to half-time at the Stade de France in the World Cup opener before going off with what has been confirmed by coach Laurent Labit as a hamstring injury. Midi Olympique have now reported that the 28-year-old faces four to five weeks out ahead of further tests next week, which would likely rule him out of matches against Uruguay, Namibia and Italy.
Now that France have overcome the biggest hurdle in their group, beating the All Blacks 27-13, Labit said today that Marchand was not even in the coaching team's plans to feature against Uruguay on Thursday. He said: (Translated on Google) "We are not going to act in haste. In any case, “Juju” (Marchand) was not scheduled for the match against Uruguay. His injury doesn't change anything in our plans at the moment."
Marchand joins a growing injury list for Les Bleus, as his fellow Toulouse teammates Romain Ntamack and Cyril Baille are also absent. While Ntamack is out for the entirety of the tournament, Baille, like Marchand, could make a comeback in the latter stages of the tournament, which could be a major boost for Fabien Galthie and his side.
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Latest Comments
33, unlikely?
It’s actually an interesting question, how does his RL career impact you perception of his ‘rugby age’?
I’d imagine he’s fresher than a 26 yo rugby player, he’s fitting and done more k’s, but had less impacts (unsure of his injuries).
Anyway, your conclusion doesn’t really hit the mark. What you’ve not asked yourself is would he be better at 33, with 6 years under his belt, than 28/9, and only 2 years experience. If he really is considering it a major goal of course, he may just want an Olympic medal and leave etc.
Still, in relation to your topic, what I suspected would be his thinking is the ever increasing value in playing in Japan. Perhaps he’d try and give this first WC a go, trying to make it in the All Blacks, obviously playing Super Rugby, then he’d take a much bigger contract in Japan? Learn how to run around people with better accuracy and consistency (rofl), and then return to NZ as an improved player to Australia 2027, with the hope to fine tune further and make the most of his marketability in the bonanza that America 2031 is going to leave behind. 33 is still prime earning age and who knows what the MLR market is going to be like them, if teams have started to have major backers etc.
It’s all about the money afterall (yes, I wasn’t referring to his ability re USA31’)!
Go to commentsNo, just an overly zealous fan who doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
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