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Recall for Demba Bamba one of three changes to France squad versus Scotland
By Liam Heagney
France have made three changes to their 31-strong squad that will prepare for the round three Guinness Six Nations match against Scotland on February 28, including a recall for prop Demba Bamba who earned the last of his 14 caps in the November Autumn Nations Cup win over Scotland.
Fresh from away wins over Italy and Ireland, the fixture versus the Scots will be the first home game of the campaign for the Grand Slam-chasing French who are seeking to win a first Six Nations title since 2010.
Fabien Galthie has called up 31 players to assemble next Sunday for their third match this month and there are three alterations to what he has worked with during recent weeks. Hassane Kolingar, Baptiste Pesenti and Dorian Aldegheri have all left the France group and they have been replaced by Jean-Baptiste Gros, Swan Rebbadj and Bamba.
The squad announcement on Wednesday afternoon rounded off a tricky few days for the French as it was confirmed earlier in the day that assistant coach William Servat had become the third member of the management team to test positive for Covid-19.
The French rugby federation had announced on Tuesday that Les Bleus head coach Galthie had tested positive, while one other unnamed person also produced a positive test. All the players, though, returned a further complete round of negative tests.
“Additional PCR tests will be carried out at home on Friday, as well as Sunday in the evening as soon as the players and staff arrive at the National Rugby Centre in Marcoussis," read a French rugby federation media release. "Once the tests are completed, everyone will be placed in isolation awaiting the results.”
FRANCE SQUAD (vs Scotland)
FORWARDS: Uini Atonio (La Rochelle), Cyril Baille (Toulouse), Demba Bamba (Lyon), Jean-Baptiste Gros (Toulon), Mohamed Haouas (Montpellier); Pierre Bourgarit (La Rochelle), Julien Marchand (Toulouse), Peato Mauvaka (Toulouse); Killian Geraci (Lyon), Bernard Le Roux (Racing 92), Swan Rebbadj (Toulon), Romain Taofifenua (Toulon), Paul Willemse (Montpellier); Gregory Alldritt (La Rochelle), Dylan Cretin (Lyon), Anthony Jelonch (Castres), Charles Ollivon (Toulon), Cameron Woki (Bordeaux-Begles);
BACKS: Sebastien Bezy (Clermont), Antoine Dupont (Toulouse), Baptiste Serin (Toulon); Louis Carbonel (Toulon), Matthieu Jalibert (Bordeaux-Begles); Gael Fickou (Stade Francais), Pierre-Louis Barassi (Lyon), Arthur Vincent (Montpellier); Damian Penaud (Clermont), Teddy Thomas (Racing 92), Gabin Villiere (Toulon); Anthony Bouthier (Montpellier), Brice Dulin (La Rochelle).
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Latest Comments
Nah, that just needs some more variation. Chip kicks, grubber stabs, all those. Will Jordan showed a pretty good reason why the rush was bad for his link up with BB.
If you have an overlap on a rush defense, they naturally cover out and out and leave a huge gap near the ruck.
It also helps if both teams play the same rules. ARs set the offside line 1m past where the last mans feet were😅
Go to commentsYeah nar, should work for sure. I was just asking why would you do it that way?
It could be achieved by outsourcing all your IP and players to New Zealand, Japan, and America, with a big Super competition between those countries raking it in with all of Australia's best talent to help them at a club level. When there is enough of a following and players coming through internally, and from other international countries (starting out like Australia/without a pro scene), for these high profile clubs to compete without a heavy australian base, then RA could use all the money they'd saved over the decades to turn things around at home and fund 4 super sides of their own that would be good enough to compete.
That sounds like a great model to reset the game in Aus. Take a couple of decades to invest in youth and community networks before trying to become professional again. I just suggest most aussies would be a bit more optimistic they can make it work without the two decades without any pro club rugby bit.
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