Every year they come back.
Like spring.
Or, rather, like gastro, some would say.
They are called duplicates.
Identifying them is a little pre-season treasure hunt.
It consists of superimposing the calendar of Top 14 matches for the coming season, generally unveiled at the beginning of July by the National Rugby League (LNR), with that of the meetings of the France team.
It is then necessary to highlight the weekends which include both at the same time: here are the duplicates.
The first of these took place this weekend of October 29-30, as the Blues are currently preparing for the November tour, with a first match against Australia this Saturday.
But it will be far from the last.
To discover
Schedule and Top 14 results
Ranking Top 14
True duplicates, false duplicates
This mode of operation is a specificity of rugby.
In other sports such as football, the national championships are put on hold during meetings of the national selections.
They are also called “
international truces
”.
The players thus represent their country without worrying about what their clubs are doing during this time.
But, in Top 14, it has become a custom that the championship does not always stop.
The clubs that provide the most internationals therefore find themselves having to play matches with a workforce cut off from its best elements.
Read alsoXV of France: 14 players released, including Willemse package, before the match against Australia
The 2022-2023 financial year is no exception to the rule.
There are two periods of club-selection concomitance: the November tour and the Six Nations tournament, which spans February and March.
Over these periods, three Top 14 days will take place on the same weekend as a Les Bleus match: D10, D17 and D19.
One could say that "
losing
" three days out of the twenty-six scheduled for the championship calendar is not a tragedy...
But, small subtlety, there are also "
false duplicates
".
These are the days during which the internationals certainly do not play an international match, but 28 of the 42 selected are requisitioned to train and prepare for the upcoming test matches.
This will be the case in particular for the J16, the J18 and the J20.
This was also the case for the J9, which has just ended without the French internationals, in preparation for France-Australia on November 5.
The issue of sports equity
Admittedly, the Agreement between the FFR and the LNR provides for a handful of players to be released from their international obligations and return to the club on Wednesday before the matches (14 out of 42).
Financial compensation is also stipulated.
But the fact remains that the teams supplying internationals find themselves diminished by several living forces.
And can lose big.
In a way, the duplicates are reshuffling the cards, with large stables plummeting and poorly ranked ones catching up.
Some cry out for iniquity.
Others, on the contrary, to justice.
At the microphone of Eurosport, in February 2022, the former third line Imanol Harinordoquy (82 selections) had confided that this could also affect the selected players, who “
Keep an eye on the results of their club.
It's important, it's important to them.
“And to continue:”
When you are in a delicate position with your club and you have to go to the France team, you abandon your friends a little.
It's not great to deal with.
»
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Recently, reviews have become rarer.
Or, at least, they do not emerge publicly.
The good form of the French team, n°2 in the World Rugby ranking after its Grand Slam at the 2022 Tournament, probably has something to do with it.
Less than a year from the 2023 World Cup organized on our lands (September 8 - October 28) and during which, for the first time, the championship will go on hiatus, it would make a point of criticizing loud and clear a system that makes that France wins.
So the clubs suffer in silence.
Those who benefit from the crime
In periods of doubles, it is necessary that the coaches line up fifteen men on the field.
This is where these providential players emerge, young hopefuls propelled onto the big stage or second knives promoted to the top of the rope.
They do the number.
Edgar Retière (21, opening half) and Guillaume Cramont (21, hooker) are among them.
Both are the future of Stade Toulousain and both started in Bayonne on Saturday (26-22).
The first to compensate for the absences of Romain Ntamack and Thomas Ramos.
The second to replace Julien Marchand and Peato Mauvaka.
For them, it is clear that the duplicate system benefits them.
“
In some seasons, doubles penalize us because of the defeats that follow one another, but it also allows young players to emerge and be able to express themselves.
It is a real springboard for training.
We young players love it, it gives us opportunities.
“, recognizes Guillaume Cramont interviewed by Figaro.
A feeling shared by his teammate, Edgar Retière: “
It's difficult to separate from internationals, it puts the clubs at odds, but it also allows you to rely on training.
Young players can show themselves, be exposed.
It's all pretty positive.
»
“The idea is not to be a wild card only available for doubloons, but rather to integrate a real rotation throughout the season”.
Guillaume Cramont
Both expect to scratch exposure during these very special times.
“
Obviously, I prepared myself to have more playing time, more opportunities.
In discussion with the staff at the start of the season, we had checked off that period, I knew that I had to prepare myself
, ”says Edgar Retière.
At Stade Toulousain, a rotation throughout the season
However, it was not necessary to wait for a duplicate to see Guillaume Cramont and Edgar Retière appear on a Top 14 lawn this season.
Both benefited from playing time from the first games.
“
The coaches managed to integrate us into the rotation from the start, so we come with some benchmarks.
Last season, I started directly against Racing in a period of doubles, it was more difficult.
This year, I arrive with more confidence
, ”says Guillaume Cramont, who had obtained twenty minutes against Pau (J3) and Montpellier (J5) even before the doubles.
Read alsoRomain Ntamack: "We still have a lot of room for improvement between now and the World Cup"
With a view to better management of these periods, Stade Toulousain, a major supplier of internationals, has therefore set up a rotation system which extends over the entire season.
“
Even before the start of the championship, the staff was clear that a whole group was going to play, with the aim of bringing competition.
It is thanks to everyone that we will be able to continue to win titles
”, underlines Edgar Retière, when his teammate Guillaume Cramont does not wish to be a “
joker card available only for duplicates.
» «
The idea is to integrate a real rotation with Julien Marchand and Peato Mauvaka, and bring additional qualities to allow them to rest outside periods of duplication.
Finding yourself behind such players in the hierarchy can seem frustrating at first.
But for Guillaume Cramont, it is on the contrary the opportunity to play more.
“
In other Top 14 clubs with fewer internationals, I might have less playing time while being better placed in the hierarchy.
It is above all, for these young hopefuls, a chance to rub shoulders with the best.
“
I want to follow the example of Romain Ntamack and Thomas Ramos, watch how they play, get advice from them.
Without doing Romain Ntamack or Thomas Ramos, but using them to build myself.
And why not, one day, be one of those who are supplemented.
