Before joining Marcoussis to prepare for the second match of the Nations Cup of Autumn, Matthieu Jalibert was at the heart of a heated debate this weekend.
At the end of a heated match, the Union Bordeaux-Bègles won Friday night on the lawn of Castres (29-30), thanks to a try at the very end of the match of Amosa (79th).
In the process, the opener of the UBB, who had been replaced, entered the field to congratulate his teammates and, in his race, he hit the back of the CO, Julien Dumora.
This led to a small scuffle between the two teams.
And number 10 to be singled out for what was seen by many as a provocation.
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At the microphone of Canal +, Matthieu Jalibert (22 years old, 5 selections) wanted to extinguish the fire.
“I was happy, I ran and without doing it on purpose I hit the rear Dumora.
Well, he took it a bit badly.
I apologize if he sees me.
It was not necessarily voluntary, I was in euphoria, I did not see it and we collided.
Then there was a little bickering but it was not intended.
These are not beautiful images that we want to see in our sport.
So I apologize to him.
I couldn't tell him at the end.
I hope he doesn't blame me, ”he explained.
The Bordelais win with a last second try!
The spirits are heating up a bit, but Mr Castaignède has whistled the end of the match, the first away victory of the season for the UBB!
# COUBBpic.twitter.com / 012csBoVXj
- Canal Rugby Club (@CanalRugbyClub) November 13, 2020
Place now in the XV of France and the match against the XV of Chardon at Murrayfield.
And, Monday morning, the staff of the Blues formalized the package of his number 1 opener, Romain Ntamack, injured in a thigh.
Matthieu Jalibert, number 2 in the hierarchy, should logically be launched against the Scots.
To honor his sixth selection and only his second tenure.
More than two years after being launched in the international deep end against Ireland by Jacques Brunel (who thinks at the time that "he has the technical and mental capacities, and the maturity to sublimate himself to cross a plateau") , the Girondin opening half will be entitled to another chance.
The fragility of the player in question at the beginning
His first cape against the XV of Clover, quickly cut short, had turned into a nightmare.
From the 30th minute, he had to leave the lawn of the Stade de France after a shock to the knee.
Assessment: partial rupture of the posterior cruciate ligament, 12 weeks of absence and season ended in club.
Worse, he injured his knee again in August 2018 during a UBB friendly against the Natal Sharks.
Another six months of absence.
Bad luck…
Too fragile the Bordeaux opener?
The question then arose, after starting at a very high level at only 19 years old.
But, in the end, Matthieu Jalibert resumed the course of his career by becoming essential at Bordeaux-Bègles, despite competition from former Oyonnax player, Ben Botica, elected best player of the Top 14 for the 2017-2018 season.
At the start of the 2019-2020 season, he admitted to Le
Figaro that
after his injuries “the recovery was complicated”: “I had some bad feelings, my knee was fine but I lacked speed and rhythm.
I came back to the group maybe a little too quickly.
Now I have no more discomfort, no more pain.
I feel perfect, I am 100%.
I found very good feelings.
I hope to show it quickly by bringing something to my team. ”
“He's an easy boy. You just have to tell him the real things, because he needs to hear them. Afterwards, he's a class player and I haven't had a lot of players like that ”
Christophe Urios
Thing done with a return to the foreground at UBB.
Impactful, explosive and regular scorer (45 points in 5 matches this season), Jalibert is one of the key elements of the club managed by Christophe Urios, who led the Top 14 last season before the end of the championship due to the health crisis.
At the beginning of November, after the great success against Bayonne (43-19), the Girondin technician had explained, in
South West
, that his opener is "an easy boy:" You just have to tell him the real things, because he needs to hear them.
Afterwards, he's a classy player and I haven't had a lot of players like that.
Frankly, at his age… He sees quickly, he understands quickly, he feels things.
And I am not talking about his physical qualities, especially his acceleration which is terrible. "
At the start of the year, this native of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (Yvelines) - who discovered rugby in New Caledonia where his military father was posted, before doing all his classes at CA Bordeaux-Bègles from 2005- was one of the lucky ones called by the new staff of Fabien Galthié.
During the first four games of the Tournament, he had replaced Romain Ntamack, honoring his last cap during the defeat of the Blues at Murrayfield (28-17).
Positive for Covid-19 at the end of October (like his club teammate Cameron Woki), he had missed the preparation match won against Wales and the last match of the Tournament against Ireland.
Owen Farrell as a model
Sunday in Edinburgh, he should rethread the flocked tunic of number 10. Conductor necessarily scrutinized from a vengeful XV of France.
A chance to be seized for the one whose benchmark in terms of rugby is… the Englishman Owen Farrell.
“He's someone I rely on, I analyze his videos a lot.
I love seeing him play because I find him so elegant.
He's very solid defensively.
It's really a plus at this level, ”he explained during his first selections.
Full head, Matthieu Jalibert has already obtained a bachelor's degree in international trade.
And Christophe Urios pushes him to go further, asking him to take two hours of English lessons per week.
"He is a brilliant kid, who has already had all his diplomas but that we must include, like all Hopes, in the" double project "(rugby and studies)", explained the former coach of Oyonnax and de Castres in
L'Equipe
.
And to add: "He returned several times to the charge but I told him:" Matthew, you are going to give me these two hours. It's important compared to the other kids at the training center but especially for you. you are reliable, structured in this area, you will also be so on the pitch.On the other hand, if you piss me off every Monday for not going to your English lessons, you will surely be the first to crash us in a match. "
This is what for me to remain the same person. "
Difficult, in the minds of the French staff, for him to dislodge Romain Ntamack from his number 1 status. But Matthieu Jalibert must prove that he can, at a moment's notice, be more than a luxury lining in the event of a problem with the Toulousain.
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Calendar and results Autumn Nations Cup