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Yachvili tips Serin to make scrum-half jersey his own
By Peter Hanson
Baptiste Serin has all the necessary attributes to make the scrum-half jersey his own with France in the coming years, says Dimitri Yachvili.
Serin was named as Guy Noves' starting number nine for last weekend's narrow Six Nations defeat to England after a breakthrough 2016.
Former Les Bleus star Yachvili, who now works as a pundit for beIN Sports, knows what it takes to succeed at the top level having earned 61 caps for France between 2002 and 2012.
And the 36-year-old has tipped the Bordeaux-Begles scrum-half to shine.
Speaking to Omnisport, he said: "I like his game, I like his skills. He's an intuitive scrum-half.
"I like this kind of player because for a few years, we saw in France a big scrum-half with a big physique, but now we come back to a more intuitive scrum-half with a very good kick, very good skills and good speed of pass.
"I think he has a good future and it's very good news for French rugby.
"He can be a very good scrum-half for France, but you know a career is very hard. Sometimes you have injuries, sometimes you can live some difficult moments.
"He has maybe to play more with Bordeaux, to play high-level games with Bordeaux like Champions Cup games. He is a worker, he likes to work, so I think he can be the next scrum-half for France."
France were 19-16 losers to England at Twickenham last weekend and Yachvili expects Eddie Jones' men to retain their title, claiming Les Bleus are realistically aiming for third place.
"For France, I hope we will beat Scotland. We have to beat Italy and the last game against Wales," he added.
"I think it's going to be very hard for us in Ireland. I think and I hope we will finish around the third place, which means it will be quite a good Six Nations for us.
"England, I think, will win the Six Nations this year because they are still a good team even if they didn't play very well last weekend for 60 minutes. I think they will be very dangerous."
Dimitri Yachvili will be among the former internationals competing in the Tournoi des 6 Stations [The 6 Stations Tournament] on the snow in the French Alps from February 13-19. For more information on the event visit www.tournoides6stations.com/anglais
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Latest Comments
Gotta love a coach who'll throw his players under the bus instead of taking the loss on his chin. No wonder his team lacks confidence with a bellend like him in charge.
Go to commentsI agree re-Barrett, he would be an excellent 6. Vaai he called him the squads Terminator! No use in shutting out other specialist 6s though like Frizell and Finau.
I don't think the Saders want Darry tbh, already have so much locking talent in Strange, Cahill, Hannah, and Barrett, with Gallagher returning after a spell at the Canes.
As for your ideas on SRP, I was thinking more expansion into the islands. Why just a Fijian team? Why not a Samoan and Tongan team as well? I think adding Japan could be cool, since they are in roughly the same timezone so not much jet lag. Only issue is that their seasons are reversed! Same with USA.
I think the best option is to keep to ourselves, with AUS, NZ, SAM, FIJ, and TNG. 5 teams for Australia (Brumbies, Reds, Tahs, Force, Rebels), 5 for NZ (Saders, Canes, Blues, Chiefs, Landers), and 4 for the PIs (Moana Pasifika, Drua, Tongan team, Samoan team).
If we expand into the PIs, we cut off a source of talent and entertainment from the Northern competitions like Top 14, and open a whole new market of people. Increase advertisment in Japan as well, since their in the same timezone, and we could be on track for a very good competition.
Plus, we would get gamedays like in America, one game queued up after another. Makes it a whole lot easier if you can just flick on the telly and BOOM theres the games. No need to plan out when things are, just get your mates around, flick it on in the background and chill with a cold beverage.
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