Athleticism has finally trumped weight for France
Just over a year ago France fielded the heaviest pack ever seen in international rugby history.
The then Jacques Brunel coached team that faced Wales at the Stade de France tipped the scales at a staggering 962kg – an average of 120.3kg a man. A solid 7kg a man heavier than an average Test pack.
It was the culmination of a decade of increasingly heavy athlete selection for the French national team, a strategy that aped the Top 14’s obsessional, size at all costs approach to the game. It’s been the fallback position for a league that former Clermont coach Joe Schmidt once described as a ‘man-up-a-thon’.
Selectors had better buy in bulk or go home.
Not that its efficacy was ever proven. While Racing 92 and La Rochelle – albeit to a lesser extent – have had success with giant forward packs, if anything the opposite was true for the many sides whose big bodies were falling by the wayside.
Toulouse fielded a one-tonne plus in 2016/17. Was it a coincidence that the aristocrats of French rugby finished an unheard of 12th that year? The same year a super-sized Bayonne were relegated. Perpignan in 2013/14 had the heaviest pack in all of France that season and were relegated and wouldn’t be seen in the French top-flight again until 2018.
Continue reading below…
WATCH: John Kirwan and Kane Hames on The Breakdown debate the ref’s decision of Paul Willemse slap down against Wales in Six Nations.
In stark contrast, the teams that have dominated the same league over the last decade: Toulon, Clermont, Castres and the Toulouse side of 2011-13, did so – contrary to popular belief – with decidedly middle-weight forwards.
Could it be that the Fabien Galthie’s 2020 French side has finally learned that size doesn’t win in the Top 14 and neither does it win Test matches?
It’s obvious that height and athleticism are more important for Galthie. There’s one only survivor from Brunel’s giant pack of 2019 Six Nations; a much-slimmed down 6’7, 129kg Paul Willemse. Having shed 6kg since over the summer, the big Montpellier lock is playing the rugby of his life.
That’s not to say his current crop are willowy. Far from it. The average weight of starting eight that beat Wales in Cardiff was 918kg, or 114.75kg a man. They are also tall – with an average height of 6’3.5 inches (or 191.25cm).
There is a greater trend in test rugby to selecting for height at blindsides or shifting second rows into the backrow. England’s converted lock, 6’7 Courtney Lawes; the Springboks 6’6 Pieter Steph Du Toit and New Zealand’s 6’5 Liam Squire and 6’5 Jerome Kaino before that are examples of that.
Allied to that, the pretty mediocre results of Michael Cheika’s ‘Pooper’ experiment for the Wallabies suggests starting two (relatively) short opensides capable of competing for the ball on the deck wasn’t the panacea for fast-ball and turnovers on opposition ball that many thought it might be.
???#PoweredByAWS #GuinnessSixNations pic.twitter.com/sHROwAxXkd
— Guinness Men's Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) February 29, 2020
Height at six is an easy way to add a few inches for a third lineout option, while simultaneously providing heft for close-quarter ball-carries.
What strikes you about this French forward pack however is their abundant athleticism. They seem equally happy in the open field and with space in from to them as do they do when called upon to run over the top of the opposition.
That athleticism is reflected in the stats too. Six foot seven flanker Ollivon leads the try-scoring charts with three tries. He is also joint first with Ntamack for try assists with three. His height has also helped him to become the tournament’s leading lineout taker with 20 – 5 more than Ireland’s James Ryan in 2nd.
No.8 Gregory Alldritt leads the forwards in the competition for metres made with 271. It’s the fourth-highest of any player and seven metres more than Scottish fullback Stuart Hogg in 5th.
Galthie’s investment in youth made the headlines in the lead up to the Six Nations. But what his selections seem to indicate is that it is no longer enough to be a big body. He wants athletes into the bargain.
Comments on RugbyPass
Hopefully this will mean a new Auckland league team to support in the west. Big Warriors fan but it’s very, very stale on that front and I’d like the option of another team if it was to watch league again. League needs to step up BIG time if its to get anywhere, another AK team and something from the capitol or south is a must for the game.
3 Go to commentsGood, deep interview, nice job Frankie!
1 Go to commentsNRL players don’t have anywhere near the number of Tests. Some people would be happy having Rest Homes full if 40 yo ex-players walking, or hobbling more like it, into walls. It’s just a game!
4 Go to commentsNOW Razor is worried about ABs getting injured or overplayed! Didn’t bother him last year. He happily played his AB Crusaders.
4 Go to commentsWhat is the World Rugby U20 players born year.
2 Go to commentsMuch like the Chiefs finally gave up waiting for Atu Moli to ever not be injured, you have to wonder if the Chiefs and Crusaders will let Josh Lord and Ethan Blackadder go next season. They’re being well paid to sit in the injury ward every year. Better off putting those funds towards someone who might actually play.
7 Go to commentsShowed better basic skills than some nz Super sides, who probably would have botched some of those backline moves. This tournament really is too short though. Needs more teams, or have them play two rounds to properly prepare them for the near full-time NH U20 sides.
4 Go to commentsGood grief it’s only six months. Probably just upset it’s not an established kiwi entering their prime they can “project” into green to join the rest.
1 Go to commentsGood player but far from being best in the world. That's an exaggeration. Perhaps Best in world by Northern Hemisphere standards and biasis but certainly not Southern Hemi standards
3 Go to commentsWell one thing about World Cup knock out rounds and Ireland is very clear: they won’t be getting ahead of themselves in ‘27! Because making it beyond the QF is well and truly ‘IN THEIR HEADS’ now…😉
75 Go to commentsHas this guy been dope tested? Sounds like a case of “roid rage”.
1 Go to commentsI would like to see him say that to Eben face to face in a dark alley.
75 Go to commentsYep, lost in translation. There are arrogant people in Ireland, yes. As there are arrogant people in every country, but as a nation, arrogance is not a general characteristic in Ireland. There has not really had a strong representation for any global sport over the years, and hence arrogance is not endemic to Irish people in this regard. I seriously doubt that was said or meant by 12 or 13 players. If it was said, it would have been said in jest and to pay Etzebeth and the Springboks a compliment for how hard fought the game was.
75 Go to commentsOne of the few Bidwell articles I can agree with. If coaches played their players through niggles and consistently played them 80mins then you could make an argument for resting protocols - they obviously don’t and are incredibly responsible, let’s give up the resting nonsense and let the boys play.
4 Go to commentsDaniel Gallan, please for the love of all that is holy, stop writing about rugby. Or at the very least stop telling people you are South African.
21 Go to commentsThis Dr.Rassie 6-2 filth is spreading. We need to ask World Rugby to ban something
1 Go to commentsPity he couldn’t call him a liar to his face, such a brave man.
75 Go to comments“You ain’t counting to 12 or 13 straight after a game, son!” Just because you don’t doesn’t mean everyone else doesn’t “I reckon if anyone said it they would have said, ‘Hopefully, see you in the final’.” Oh, you “reckon”, do you? You weren’t there, you weren’t part of the conversation but you know what was said… Id10T
75 Go to commentsNZ has such a rich history of quality number nines, and woman beaters.
1 Go to commentsThat’s what happens when you are scared of scrums
3 Go to comments