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France suffer major blow as one of brightest stars faces another lengthy spell on sidelines
By Online Editors
Concerns are ramping over one of France's brightest hopes Matthieu Jalibert, after he picked up another long-term injury.
Jalibert had been feted as the countries long-term solution at fly-half and was named in Jacques Brunel's side for the opening Six Nations match against Ireland in February.
But the 19-year-old's participation lasted less than half an hour when he picked up a knee ligament injury, which ended his season.
And now his return from the game has been halted abruptly by a recurrence of the injury, which he sustained playing a pre-season friendly for Bordeaux Begles against the Sharks in South Africa last Friday.
A statement on the Bordeaux Begles website said "The examinations diagnosed a recurrence of posterior cruciate ligament injury requiring surgical reconstruction. He will be unavailable for a minimum of 6 months."
"We wish Matthieu good luck in this new instance, which he will undoubtedly get through with the competitor's mind we know he has."
It will mean that Jalibert will miss France's November internationals, against face South Africa, Argentina and Fiji and will be in a race to prove his fitness ahead of the 2019 Natwest Six Nations.
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I’m looking forward to attending the Twickenham match, I don’t think it will have a bearing on the outcome of the grand prize itself but it will tell us more about each teams’ preparation and game plan. It’s hard to look past one of the big four (I’m including Canada) lifting the trophy in 2025 but sport is a curious thing, there will still be twists and turns in road ahead.
Go to commentsThe better side seems to be the losing side a lot these days. As far as narrative goes. Must be the big emergent culture of “participation awards” that have emerged in nanny states. ”It looked like New Zealand would take the game from there but lapses in execution let South Africa get back into the game. New Zealand’s goal kickers left five points out there, including a very make-able penalty on the stroke of half”. Sounds like a chronic problem… I wonder how the better team has lapses in concentration and execution? Or are those not important factors in the grand scheme of total performances? In 2023, the ABs at least didn’t give up a lead to lose. They just couldn’t execute to get the points and take the lead. This Baby AB result points to a choke - letting the game slip through your fingers. In the words of the great Ricky Bobby’s dad - “If you’re not 1st you’re last!” Loosely translated - if you didn’t win, you’re a loser.
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