While French rugby is still an ongoing debate about the rivals, the current context and the staff’s desire to field their best players could lead to a new association between Romain Ntamack and Mathieu Jalibert, this time in positions 10 and 15. Who is even due to be tested by live ammunition this weekend against Australia…
The issue did not arise during the week of preparation for the match against New Zealand, as Romain Ntamack was ruled out of the match for playing in the Top 14 final the week before. However, ahead of the Blues’ return to Brisbane, where the finalists awaited them, a dilemma quickly crept in at headquarters: how could a Toulouse player be made to co-exist (sportingly) with Mathieu Jalibert? This question is all the more difficult because since the start of Fabien Galtier’s second mandate, the question has almost never arisen, since for three years Jalibert and Ntamack only played together for part of the 2025 tournament, between injuries and suspensions for both.
However, given the tremendous form shown by both men in recent months, it was obvious that the issue would arise again one day. So it will be this week and the current context makes it urgent to field the best players. But in what configuration? Leaving Jalibert in 10th place and moving Ntamack to 12th? The experiment, which was already carried out against Argentina on November 6, 2021, ended five years ago: the French midfielder suffered too much in defense due to insufficient density. So what else? “Officially” move Jalibert to position 13, a position he occupies 50% of the time (in defensive phases)? Of course not, since this decision is heresy from an offensive point of view, Jalibert only reaches his full potential when he is deployed as a first striker. “These international matches leave room for attack and given the quality of players in our team, we really like that. The Bordeaux player smiled after the match with New Zealand. My role is to set the pace of the match, I like it to go fast.”
Peno’s injury is the last “push” of fate
Thus, according to our information and on the principle that the Blues did not mourn the “triple hinge” that guided them during the last tournament (read opposite), the tricolor squad seems to be on the way to abandoning the deployment of Romain Ntamack in the 10th place and Mathieu Jalibert in the 15th place. It is all the more logical that there have been some injuries at the back of the field, between Arfey’s serious injury against England and a sprained ankle. Leo Barre in the Top 14 semi-final, followed by the calf problem suffered by Damian Penaud on Saturday, which unwittingly served as the hand of fate that accelerated the experience. “Damian felt the tension and chose to stop before a possible tear, but at the moment we are not going to call anyone. – Fabien Galthier explained at a press conference with the air of a man who already has ideas. We are 42 people and we have enough versatile players to work with. We will be bringing together the nine players who have joined us for the next two matches. This is what we wanted. There will be emulation.”
And so something new: the combination of Ntamaka-Jalibert’s talents is likely to get everyone’s French rugby fantasies going. His test with live ammunition against Australia would even have all the characteristics to have serious implications in the long term if it proves convincing… Indeed, Jalibert’s eventual switch in the 15th match could have the virtue of freeing him up even more defensively and allowing him to find the mental clarity he sometimes lacked against New Zealand. Providing a solution that will provide a little competition for Thomas Ramos and encourage the Toulouse resident not to rest on his laurels a year before the World Cup…