WHEN ROMAIN NTAMACK limped off the pitch in Saint-Étienne on Saturday night, he didn’t have the look of a man who feared the worst. Sadly, we now know that one of the most exciting players in the game won’t be involved in the World Cup, with the FFR confirming the 24-year-old has ruptured the cruciate ligament in his left knee.
It’s a devastating blow for the gifted Toulouse out-half, who misses out on the opportunity to play for his country in a home World Cup.
France will still head into the tournament as one of the strong favourites to lift the Webb Ellis Cup but they’ll now have to do it without one of their most influential and important players.
In a brilliant French team, Ntamack has established himself as an outstanding talent.
France have been targeting this World Cup from a long way out, blooding a string of young players early with the aim of building a world-beating side by the time the tournament rolled around.
Ntamack is a prime example, having made his Test debut at the age of just 19 in the 2019 Six Nations, starting the opening round fixture against Wales at outside centre. By the end of the tournament he was the first-choice out-half – selected at 10 for the closing three fixtures as France boss Jacques Brunel shook up his team following a second-round thrashing at Twickenham.
He remained first-choice at the 2019 World Cup and went on to make the jersey his own, becoming a central figure in the side. Across the last two Six Nations Championships, Ntamack has started every game.
After another excellent season with both club and country, he looked primed to light up the World Cup before becoming the latest high-profile casualty from the summer warm-up fixtures.
Ntamack suffered the injury during a rather innocuous looking collision with Finn Russell, with the Scotland 10 carrying hard into Ntamack, who initially sprang straight back to his feet before falling to the ground, it quickly becoming clear he would be unable to continue.
Now France have been forced into a rethink with their World Cup plans, and while Ntamack’s loss is no doubt a major setback, they still have a squad capable of winning the World Cup.
France boss Fabien Galthié will likely turn to Matthieu Jalibert, who has previously pushed Ntamack for the 10 shirt. During the 2021 autumn internationals, France twice started Jalibert at 10 with Ntamack at inside centre in a bid to get the two in the team together.
Jalibert, 24, is a classy replacement for Ntamack and while there is no questioning the Bordeaux player’s talent, he’ll head into the tournament with little recent experience of leading the team at 10. Twelve of his 23 Test caps have come in the starting team but the World Cup warm-up meeting against Scotland earlier this month represented his first start for France at out-half in over a year.
He’ll also face competition from Antoine Hastoy. The 26-year-old impressed for La Rochelle on their run to Champions Cup success this year but has only been capped four times.
Another option would be for Galthié to shift Thomas Ramos in a reshuffled backline. Fullback is Ramos’ preferred position but he regularly plays 10 for Toulouse, and he finished out Saturday’s win against Scotland at out-half following Ntamack’s departure.
France play Fiji this weekend before their final warm-up game sees them host Australia on 27 August.
After that, it’s a blockbuster Paris clash with the All Black to open the World Cup on 8 September.
One of those two sides may well up being crowned world champions at the same venue in late October. France can still do it without Ntamack, but the tournament will be poorer for his absence.
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