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.
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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.
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“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
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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.
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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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Sl2DoIhJwY
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
Bar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
9 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
35 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
2 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
35 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
49 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
35 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
35 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. All the Kiwis sticking up for this unprincipled individual because they can't accept justified criticism, he has zero credibility or integrity. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
35 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
35 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
2 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to commentsObscene that SA haven’t been knocking
1 Go to commentsChances of Blackadder being injured seem too high to give him serious consideration. ABs loosie combination finally looked good with 2 committed to tackling and clearing rucks in the centre and Ardie roaming. Hoskins/Ardie together would force one of them into where they don’t excel and don’t get to use their talent, or require a change in tactics. If we continue to evolve last years systems I would take Papali’i and Finau at 6 and 7 (conceding that Blackadder will be injured) and Ardie at 8.
35 Go to commentsArdie’s preferred position 7? Where do they get these writers from? I've no idea where he's playing in Japan, but the previous two seasons he wore the 7 jersey exactly twice.
18 Go to comments