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Romain Ntamack ruled out of Rugby World Cup - report

Antoine Dupont, left, and Romain Ntamack of France during the Guinness Six Nations Rugby Championship match between Ireland and France at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. (Photo By Seb Daly/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

France’s Romain Ntamack has been ruled out of the Rugby World Cup due to a knee injury suffered during a match against Scotland. L’Equipe reports that Ntamack sustained an ACL injury in their narrow victory over Scotland in St Etienne over the weekend.

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While head coach Fabien Galthie initially described it as a hyperextension, the renowned French sporting outlet are now reporting it was an ACL and he will miss the entire tournament.

The incident unfolded as Ntamack attempted to tackle Scotland’s Finn Russell before getting his boot caught in the turf. Medical personnel provided immediate assistance on the field, and Ntamack had to be helped off, displaying evident distress from the suspected knee injury.

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Ntamack’s partnership with Antoine Dupont at Toulouse has been a linchpin for both club and country, contributing to a Grand Slam win in 2022 and leading France to a notable 14-game victory streak. The untimely loss of such a pivotal player presents a considerable setback for the host nation, particularly given their formidable lineup in the warm-up match against Scotland.

France do have the luxury of Matthieu Jalibert as a replacement, yet even with this proviso, the loss of the Toulouse star is seismic.

As the Rugby World Cup approaches, France must negotiate two more warm-up fixtures against Fiji and Australia before their opening game against the All Blacks on September 8. Ntamack’s unavailability casts a shadow over their preparations.

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Comments

10 Comments
S
Schneider 714 days ago

Rugby is a contact sport, Test Rugby is another level up from provincial.


Tricky going into a world cup cold without any games. I think a lot of the French last played 9 weeks back, so to jump straight into test match level is crazy.


Hard luck for him, That French backline just lost an X-Factor player!

G
GrahamVF 714 days ago

100% right. He should never have played a full game after so long out of contact action. And if they had waited till the first game of the competition it would have been even worse. Never mind their second string losing to Scotland and ever accepting that Scotland are a lot stronger that they are being given credit for they very nearly got a repeat dose at home on Saturday which begs the question about how well they will face against a rapidly improving All Blacks? Accepting that to win the WC they ma well have to beat the AB's twice with South Africa or Ireland sandwiched in between. This is why it is so difficult to win a WC and why it is a remarkable feat to have done it once never mind two or three times.

C
Chris 714 days ago

It's crazy how many good/important players for their country got injured in these warm-up matches...

T
Tony D. 714 days ago

Are these test matches truly necessary? Especially before the RWC. Regardless of who you support; it's a shame to see any player injured.

C
Chris 714 days ago

F**k!!!!

D
Derek Murray 714 days ago

We follow an unforgiving sport. So sad for a terrific player

C
CH 714 days ago

Such a pity, really exciting player.

M
Max 714 days ago

Well it's not only the luxury of Jalibert, we also count on Hastoy which is Champions Cup winner with La Rochelle and amazing player. Ramos can also play 10, as he's used to in Toulouse with Dupont, leaving 15 to Dulin. Many good options !

f
fl 714 days ago

Presumably Jalibert will replace him but personally I'd love to see Ramos get an opportunity at 10

D
DH 714 days ago

Ramos is a great player at 10 or 15 and acts as a kind of on-field manager so they can certainly turn to him at 10 but they don't have much cover at fullback compared with other positions (Jalibert and Hastoy are already test quality players at ten) - Dulin's defence is starting to look questionable; I saw him brushed off a few times by wingers towards the end of the Top 14 as well as against Scotland in the first game at Murrayfield and Jaminet hasn't even been playing, let alone kicking this season which is all he could ever do in the first place.


I think it will be Jalibert at 10 and Ramos to remain at the back. Big shame to miss out on seeing N'Tamack but the debate over which those two fly halves should be in the team has been raging for as long as the Ford-Farrell debate in France so many people will be glad to see what they regard as their best fly half playing at the world cup.


Defensively Jalibert isn't as strong as N'Tamack but he is arguably more dangerous in attack.

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