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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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
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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.
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
A wallaby front-row of Bell, Blake and Tupou…now that would be hefty
1 Go to comments“But with an exceptional pass accuracy rating “ Which apart from Roigard is not a feature of any of the other 9s in NZ. Kind of basic for a Black 9 dont.you. think? Yet we keep seeing FC and TJ being rated ahead of him? Weird if it’s seen as vital to get our backline beating in your face defences.
1 Go to commentsThanks BeeMc! Looks like many teams need extra time to settle from the quadrennial northern migration. I think generally the quality of the Rugby has held up. Fiji has been fantastic and fun to watch
13 Go to commentsLets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
11 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
10 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
11 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
24 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
10 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
35 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
35 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
17 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to comments