France and the evolution of the modern fly-half - and the rebirth of a prototype
Historically, France has had a love-meh relationship with its 10s – think Jules Plisson, David Skrela, Francois Trinh-Duc, Remi Tales, Lionel Beauxis, Camille Lopez.
Go back further, and recall Gerald Merceron, Francois Gelez, or Christophe Lamaison – the latter perhaps the only player, thanks to his repeated All Blacks-killing talents, in relatively recent history to make the French, briefly, reconsider their position on fly-halves as a nine wasted.
The best-loved of them – such as Freddie Michalak, capable of genius amid the humdrummery – were damned with the sobriquet ‘mercurial’ and the auto-excuse that they were playing in a team incapable of keeping up with their fleet-witted brain.
The rest, better-than decent club players all, were weighed, tested, found wanting, cast aside at international level – their faults magnified and laid bare in the media, and never forgotten or forgiven.
Continue reading below…
WATCH: Jim Hamilton discusses the affects Shaun Edwards will have on the French team’s hope at future success.
Suddenly, however, it’s no longer Lopez or bust. Now, France have several hugely talented, homegrown young fly-halves to play with.
There’s 20-year-old Romain Ntamack, World Rugby’s Breakthrough Player of the Year.
There’s Louis Carbonel, two-time under-20 World Championship winner, who turned 21 in early February. He’s the fly-half who, in 2018, prompted Les Bleus’ under-20 coaches to shift Ntamack out to 12, so they could accommodate him in their first world title-winning side.
And there’s Mathieu Jalibert – who is two months older than Carbonel. But for a serious knee injury 30 minutes into his France debut, against Ireland in February 2018, that kept him out for more than a year, he may have had 20-odd caps and a World Cup under his belt, and be ahead of Ntamack in the pecking order.
With Anthony Belleau, 23, who has 12 senior men’s international appearances, and Stade Francais’ Joris Segonds, 22, keeping Fabien Galthie’s trio of fly-half favourites honest, France have a pretty healthy supply of 10s for a few years yet.
They have not sprung, fully formed, from nowhere. Rugby evolution has been at work.
Racing 92’s attack coach Mike Prendergast – a former scrum-half himself, who played for a season at Bourgoin – told Rugby Pass the shift in playmaking from nine to 10 in France has been a process, and that the influx of foreign players has played its part.
Can he beat his fathers 3rd place finish in '95? #Ntamack #FrenchRugby #RugbyWorldCup pic.twitter.com/papnlZHDi6
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 3, 2019
“I played at Bourgoin about 12 years ago or so,” he said. “It [playmaking off nine] was a thing when I came over. I didn’t have the language or anything at the time. I was expected to make calls and it didn’t sit well with me,” he said.
“As time has gone on, you’ve had more foreign 10s coming in [to the Top 14], so the goalposts have shifted because of that. There are a lot of world class french nines in French rugby at the moment. But [their role] has changed.
“The 10 has a bigger view from where he is. And the game has expanded as well. Back in the day there was more play off nine. Now you play with your first receiver as a 10 and maybe your second receiver as a 12, so they call the shots a lot more than the nine.
“Your nine still naturally barks at the forwards, but those goalposts have shifted.”
Ahead of France Italy, @rhigarthjones dissects the performance of Anthony Bouthier in Le Crunch, who stole the show last weekend in Paris ??? #FRAvITA ??https://t.co/zO8dsVP73h
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 8, 2020
Ironically, those star halfbacks referred to by Prendergast – Dan Carter, Johnny Sexton and Finn Russell at Racing 92; Jonny Wilkinson at Toulon; Aaron Cruden and Handre Pollard at Montpellier; Stade Francais’ Diego Dominguez; or Brock James, who retires at the end of this season having played for Clermont, La Rochelle and Bordeaux – have been blamed, almost entirely, for the lack of resources at 10 in France.
At face value, it’s a compelling argument. These players denied French talent its chance to shine, it says. But it overlooks a fundamental point. There never was a ‘French Dan Carter’, because French clubs – as recently as a dozen years ago – played off nine.
Evolving was relatively straightforward for the clubs. They could bring in game-ready stars at fly-half and build a gameplan around them. Growing a French one from scratch for the national side has taken a while longer – time the ‘where’s the French Dan Carter?’ crowd wouldn’t allow.
Which is a shame, because the Top 14’s increasingly rigid JIFF player quota regulations are developing genuine talent across the pitch. There are still holes – French locks appear to have a tendency towards the lightweight, which doesn’t necessarily sit well in the modern game – but elsewhere, Les Bleus have a growing pile of riches to pick from.
Interestingly, an early France prototype of the modern fly-half, Jules Plisson, is enjoying something of a renaissance since switching mid-season from his boyhood club, Stade Francais, to La Rochelle.
The chances of the 28-year-old figuring in Fabien Galthie’s current thinking are slimmer than a rogue electron in a proton factory. His age may even count against him in the brave youthful new world of French international rugby.
Wales, you have been warned. #GuinnessSixNations https://t.co/w1NDKvVIAP
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 12, 2020
But the Rochelais’ coach Ronan O Gara, who knows a thing or two about fly-halves, has publicly speculated Plisson may force his way back into the international reckoning, or at least media speculation surrounding it, sooner rather than later. And the possibility, quietly, is starting to be mentioned.
As Plisson told Midi Olympique this week, in answer to that very question: “If I manage to follow up and be successful, who knows what could happen. But, I’m fine here, and I don’t think about that at all.”
It’s astonishing what a bit of confidence has done to a player once feted, then faded.
His turnaround in fortunes since leaving Paris for the Atlantic coast has been rapid. Scarcely given a look-in by former coach Heyneke Meyer, he managed just 94 minutes playing time at Stade in four outings, with just one start, before his switch to La Rochelle. Since his move, he’s won Midi Olympique’s ‘Oscar of the week’ award once, and been awarded maximum three-star ratings several times.
His kicking game, which had become increasingly … mercurial … at Stade is back. Off the tee, he’s managed 25 out of 30 for his new club. In open play, his bold kick pass to winger Jules Favre against Agen would have graced viral rugby posts aplenty, had he not chosen the same game to make that outrageous scoring pass to Vincent Rattez.
This new-look, newly confident Plisson could face his old club on Saturday, as La Rochelle head to Stade Francais’ Stade Jean-Bouin. He’ll have a point to prove – just not, necessarily, to Fabien Galthie.
Comments on RugbyPass
best news and very helpful
4 Go to commentsA year ago Ireland and France looked impressive. In this 6N neither looked special. Both have lost good players, but more importantly teams have figured out how to shut them down. In particular the Irish loss to a rebuilding England and the home game struggle against a brave Scotland did nothing to prove that the Irish RWC result was undeserved. If the Scots can shut down the Irish attack, then SA can do so with interest. Rassie will have watched that game with confidence. Farrell is smart, and the Irish team is talented, so we should expect a more creative game plan in SA. But if all they bring is what they showed against Scotland then Ireland is going to struggle against the Boks. It was a fun 6N tournament, but the win for Ireland was as much about weak competition as about Irish brilliance. It was mostly due to France being off the boil, Wales and Italy not being contenders, and Scotland being a home game. England are looking much better, but “much better” should not be enough to topple a team that is supposed by some to be The Best in the World. I hope that Ireland can bump it up a notch or two for the Bok tour. A year ago they were fantastic to watch. It would be great to see that again.
24 Go to commentsLooking forward to the Wallabies being competitive again. No doubt that Joe can get them back on track.
1 Go to commentsThanks, Nick, not only for this fine article, but for all the others during 6N 2024. I really enjoyed this 2024 tournament, and felt it was one of the best for many years. That final match in Lyons was really good. England were certainly unlucky when that speculative hack by Ramos lead to a French try. It could just so easily have landed in English hand.s, and they score at the other end. I did think though that the French played some great rugby, and some of their driving play in the forwards was just fearsome. I watched Meafou with interest, and he has a good start to his career. It is interesting to compare him with Will Skelton. Lot of similarities, though so far Meafou has not shown any offloading threat. All credit to Borthwick for being prepared to change, and what great result, even if that last game was lost at the death. I feel they are a real chance to cause the AB’s problems this winter/summer. Finally a comment on Ireland. I thought their last game was their worst, and they did not look like the world’s No 2 side at all. What really worries me is that the loss to England was, in my view, down to poor decision making by the coaching group, and ofc Andy Farrell wears that. It was a big mistake to move JGP away from scrum half. Murray should have been the one to go to the wing. And the “finishers” should have been on the field earlier. And this is the second time this has happened. The RWC Qf against the AB’s, and not getting Crowley onto the field was a huge mistake. Finally, finally, watching Italy play was a joy. How wonderful that they are no longer the punchbag of the 6 N.
43 Go to commentsGreat story. Rugby needs new investment in teams like Brussels another pro league in Europe would be great.
1 Go to commentsAlso, looking at the data from last year, it seemed like by far the two biggest predictors of success were (1) kicking more than your opponents, and (2) having a higher rate of line-out wins than your opponents. I haven’t gone through the stats this year with a fine tooth comb, but the increase in kicks per game and the increase in tries from lineouts would suggest that these two metrics are only getting more important. England’s move away from a kick-heavy game to win against Ireland was seen by some as evidence that running rugby is on the rise. Alternatively it could be taken as evidence that if one team kicks more, and the other team wins more lineouts (as England did) a match is bound to be close to a draw.
2 Go to commentsI have been finding it odd that points per 22 entry has become such a talked about stat, given that your points per entry can be driven down by having more entries. These data would seem to confirm that it isn’t a useful metric, or at any rate is less useful than total entries.
2 Go to commentsI think the last two games England have played is some of their best rugby they have played under Borthwick. There has been a lot more attacking instinct and as a reward have created some well worked tries. Ollie Lawrence is a good foil at 12 as he offers the hard direct lines whilst the rest of the backs can play open. As much as it pains me to say but I do hope England keep playing this way. On a side note my favourite try of the weekend was Lorenzo Pani’s for the nice loop play that put him away and his finish was excellent. Thanks as always Nick.
43 Go to commentsMost exciting player on the planet right now, worth the price of a ticket.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith and Ireland live rent free in Safa’s heads. Their comments only triggers because its true. If the Boks had dismantled a 14 man AB’s, then there would be more respect. But they didnt, in fact quite the opposite, the 14 man NZ were clearly better. And the Bok have always been ordinary between RWC’s, thats why their supporters are now ‘only RWC’s matter’. They know thats BS. Its BS to both AB’s and Bok’s due to their history. But now its all the Safas have. Now we’ll hear excuses when they lose “oh we didnt have all our players available, the ABs/France/Eng/Irel were at full strength”, forgetting for a minute that its because of their own dumb policy. Oh well, makes a change from blaming ‘cheating refs’.
24 Go to commentsNo Nick, they did not, in fact, justify any ‘probables’ label. At no time did they seriously compete for the championship. Ireland led from start to finish and in the end, as a result of glaring referee errors, were never under serious pressure to lose their crown.
43 Go to commentsMoney for him, and his family, has been the sole motivator since he signed for Queensland aged 17. Why else sign for Melbourne. Tupou is poorly advised. If he’d stayed and developed in NZ he would have had a long Test career. If Leinster offer him a few more coins than he’s currently earning, he’s goneburger.
4 Go to commentsFinn. No one would say Ford had played well up until the last game. One standout performance in 5 is hardly in form . It should be a given that a 10 will control play . Not in Fords case be praised for suddenly doing so. Where was he against Scotland ,Italy. The pundits were saying how far away from play he was standing and one even said that the Ireland game was his last chance saloon to perform . Not exactly top form catching anyones eye. If he can play like this game after game then great. Keep him in . But after 90 odd caps we all know he just doesnt keep it going . By all means keep him there but the issue is that Borthwick will persist even when he plays poorly. Which is more often than not. Thats why i am concerned that Smith ,despite fab form , cannot get a game at his preferred spot. Can you imagine Ford at full back .
5 Go to commentsI do not really get why put Ollivon at 6 when he’s a 7, while Cros was the best Frenchman of the tournament, playing at…6. His only game replacing Aldritt at 8 doesn’t change much in terms of his impact. Lamaro was also outstanding in that brilliant Italian side, probably better than Reffell. So putting 2 Welsh players from the wooden spoon holders, and none of the 4th nation (Scotland) is also strange. Is it about showing that in this harsh transition Wales is, there were some standouts…?
6 Go to commentsThe events at this year’s six nations should undermine many of the arguments made against promotion and relegation between the six nations and the REC. If Italy had been allowed to yo-yo between divisions it conceivably could have really hurt their development, but if Italy, Wales, and Scotland are all at risk of relegation, with none of them being relegated more often than once every 3 or 4 years, you’d have to back all of them to muddle on through it, especially when you factor in the likelihood they’ll still be guaranteed world league matches against tier 1 opponents. Another way of looking at italys resurgence would be to say that the development model of adding an extra team to the six nations has worked, and now must be done again. Georgia could join to make it a 7 team round robin, and if and when Georgia demonstrate an ability to consistently win games, Portugal can also be added to make it an 8 team 2 conference competition. Frankly at this point I think it falls to world rugby to demand that the 6N act in the interests of the game. If the 6N won’t commit to expansion then the 6N teams should be handicapped in world cup draws (i.e. world cup seedings would not be based on their ranking points, but on their ranking points minus a 5 point penalty).
6 Go to commentsSteve Borthwick deserves credit for releasing the shackles on his England side and letting them play in a manner that somewhat resembles the top sides in the Gallagher Premiership. Will they revert to type in New Zealand in July.?
43 Go to commentsJames Lowe wouldn't get in any other 6N team. He's a great example of Farrell’s brilliance, and the Irish system. He is slow. His footwork is poor. But he fits perfectly in that Irish system, and has a superb impact. But put him in another team, and he'll look bang average.
6 Go to commentsCrusaders reached their heights through recruitment of North Island players, often leaving those NI teams bereft of key players. Example: Scott Barrett and Sam Whitelock robbed the Canes of their lineout and AB locks. For years the Canes have struggled at lock. This rabid recruitment was iniated by rule changes by a Crusader dominated NZR Head Office. Now this aggressive recruitment has back-fired, going after young inside back Hamilton Boys stars. They now have 4 Chiefs region 10s and not one with the requisite experience at Super level. Problems of their own making!
4 Go to commentsOver rated for a long time…exposed at scrum time too.
4 Go to comments“Firing me” should have been Gatland’s answer.
2 Go to comments