The deadline is approaching.
The XV of France will begin the defense of its title in the Six Nations Tournament on Sunday February 5 (4 p.m.), with a trip to Italy.
Fabien Galthié and his staff – who will soon announce the group of 42 players selected to start the competition – will have to deal with the injuries of each other to face the Nazionale in Rome then, a week later, the XV of Clover in Dublin.
The latest glitches concern two Rochelais from the pack.
Right
prop Uini Atonio
and hooker
Pierre Bourgarit
were hit on Saturday during the Maritimes' victory over Toulouse (30-7) at Marcel-Deflandre, reveals
RMC Sport
.
Atonio, essential right-hander of the Blues, suffers from a sprained ankle and should be out for three weeks.
It should be delivered in time for the start of the Tournament.
For his friend in the first line Bourgarit, on the other hand, this seems compromised since he was injured in the posterior cruciate ligament of the knee and his absence estimated at two and a half months.
An absence of weight which could benefit
Maxime Lamothe
(Bordeaux-Bègles) or
Gaëtan Barlot
(Castres).
Two other forwards will also be missing.
Another Rochelais, the third line
Yoan Tanga
, victim of a tear in the pectoral muscle, will be absent for at least the first two matches of the Tournament.
As for the left pillar of RC Toulon,
Jean-Baptiste Gros
, he is continuing his rehabilitation at Capbreton after his broken forearm which he suffered on October 22.
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In addition to the long-term absence of
Gabin Villière
(Toulon) - ankles then hand - who has started to jog again and hopes to return to the pitch at the end of January (in time to finally make his return to Blue?), the other big glitch for Galthié and his assistants could have concerned
Damian Penaud
.
The Clermont winger, the Blues' top try scorer since the last World Cup in 2019, is indeed suffering from a hamstring muscle injury.
But he should only be out of the field for two weeks and be available for the start of continental hostilities.
An absence of size, on the other hand, is already recorded in the three-quarter line:
Jonathan Danty
was the victim of a rupture of the posterior cruciate ligament, at the beginning of the year, against Perpignan.
Uncertainties at the center
The powerful center three-quarter will be out of action for three months.
Arthur Vincent
being also absent,
Virimi Vakatawa
having been forced to stop his career, the question will be to know who will compose the pair of centers of the Blues alongside Gaël Fickou.
Several profiles are available to the staff:
Yoram Moefana
(Bordeaux-Bègles), who knew how to make himself indispensable in the center or on the wing and who recently found the pitch,
Pierre-Louis Barassi
(Toulouse) or
Tani Vili
(UBB), regularly summoned but little used, or neophytes
Julien Delbouis
(Stade Français) and
Émilien Gailleton
(Pau), who shine this season.
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On the side of the hinge, a priori no problems to deplore.
Scrum-half
Baptiste Couilloud
(Lyon), third in the hierarchy of numbers 9, suffered a whiplash, but it is considered
"benign"
by the LOU staff and he will be resting only 15 days.
Opener
Romain Ntamack
(Toulouse), injured in the ankle in September, has since returned to the field and chained matches with Toulouse and the Blues.
His competitor for the post,
Matthieu Jalibert
(UBB) suffered a small muscle injury in the buttocks over the weekend.
Fears of complications from a long-term injury, like last season, immediately resurfaced.
But the UBB staff was reassuring, it has nothing to do with his past glitches.
To be continued...
Cros sees the end of the tunnel
In the radius of good news, the tricolor staff should be able to count on the third line
François Cros
(Toulouse).
Seriously injured in the knee last June then suffered a relapse in September, the flanker is about to return to competition.
Competition promises to be fierce in the third line with the Blues, with the return to the fore, in November, of
Charles Ollivon (
Toulon) and the rise of
Anthony Jelonch
(Toulouse).
Two other Toulouse players will also be available for the Tournament: full-back
Melvyn Jaminet
returned to competition at the end of December, after more than two months of absence due to a broken ankle.
In club as in selection, he will have to manage competition with
Thomas Ramos
, who was in sight during the November test matches.
His five-week suspension (for a header against England's Sale in the Champions Cup) ends on January 23.
Just in time to claim the blue jersey.
