France dealt injury blow ahead of Six Nations opener against England
France have been dealt a major blow ahead of their opening Guinness Six Nations clash against England with the news that hooker Camille Chat will miss the game through injury.
France are currently holding a training camp in Nice as they fine-tune their preparations for Sunday's game at the Stade de France.
However, head coach Fabien Galthié will now have to plan without Chat, 24, after the Racing hooker sustained a calf injury.
Chat will be replaced by Racing teammate Teddy Baubigny in the squad, with Toulouse's Julien Marchand now expected to start against the beaten World Cup finalists.
France are currently in a period of transition following the departure of head coach Jacques Brunel after the World Cup, with his successor, Galthié, putting an emphasis on youth in his Six Nations squad.
This Six Nations could see potential debuts could be beckoning for Montpellier’s Mohamed Haouas, Racing 92’s Boris Palu, Lyon’s Dylan Cretin and Clermont’s Alexandre Fischer in the pack, while only Bernard Le Roux and Jefferson Poirot boast over 30 international caps for Les Bleus.
Charles Ollivon has taken on the captaincy following the retirement of Guilhem Guirado.
Watch: Chris Whitaker Waratahs interview
Latest Comments
It’s going to be Scott Barrett. He’s the coaches mate and captain of a previously elite team. Ardie a great option but scooter has worked with the coach and Ardie still as big a leader as needed.
Go to commentsI commend Colin Scotts bio All Balls. He was the first Aussie to make it to NFL. But he was poached and did a full apprenticeship at the University of Hawaii. He was 130kgs surfed played 1st grade cricket etc. big guy by normal but not NFL standards and a top athlete. Even then the nfl were picking up Tongans and Samoans for their natural size and explosive power. They want explosive power not cardio from the big boys so a guy like Taniela Tupou would have been good if picked up young enough. He has fast twitch and they’d bulk the little lad up and give him something to do. soccer teams set up academies and look for Over Sara’s talent eg Messi was at Barcelona since a teenager and harry kewell went to Leeds as a teenager like 16 or something.
Go to comments