France fans are saying the same thing after losing a fourth flyhalf before Boks

France have lost a fourth No.10, Romain Ntamack, to injury, leaving head coach Fabien Galthié with a serious selection issue ahead of a heavyweight clash with the Springboks at Stade de France next week.

Ntamack left the field in the 33rd minute of France’s 54-17 win over Fiji in Lyon on Saturday night, cradling his left arm after being tackled just short of the Fijian try line. With no specialist No.10 cover on the bench, halfback Maxime Lucu came on and filled the role for the remaining 47 minutes.

The timing couldn’t be worse for France, with both Matthieu Jalibert and Thomas Ramos sidelined with thigh injuries, and Antoine Hastoy also unavailable after suffering an ankle injury last month.

22-year-old rising Pau star Axel Desperes and Castres’ 24-year-old Louis Le Brun are options for the coach to call upon, but both are uncapped at the international level, and a wave of fans online have decided they have a better idea: Antoine Dupont.

The French captain has played flyhalf eight times in his club career, most recently in 2024, but he has never played the position at the Test level. That didn’t stop swathes of commenters from promoting the idea online when reacting to Ntamack’s injury.

The appeal seemed aided by Lucu’s recent form at halfback, and his ability to step in and take the kicking duties so Dupont wouldn’t have to. Lucu has been a goal kicker throughout his professional career, and while he is not usually tasked with kicking off the tee at the international level, he did step into the role during the July block of the Nations Championship and landed five conversions against Fiji.

Fans believed the two scrum-halves, combined, could fulfil the flyhalf responsibilities.

“Dupont in 10 and Lucu in 9. Easy money,” was one of the most-liked comments on a RugbyPass post that highlighted the number of injuries in the No.10 ranks for France. Dozens more chimed in with the same idea.

There was some pushback, but rather than debating whether a specialist 10 would be better suited to the opportunity, commenters instead debated which halfback would be the better option at 10, noting Lucu was the go-to option on Saturday evening and has a handful more games of experience in the position, including in Bordeaux’s recent Champions Cup draw against Gloucester.

Regardless of who Galthie turns to, it will be a trial by fire against Rassie Erasmus’ reigning world champions.