Teddy Thomas' faith in 'cracking' successor to Antoine Dupont
Even though he hasn’t worn the Les Bleus jersey since 17 July 2021 in Australia, international winger Teddy Thomas hasn’t missed a single moment of the French team’s progress, especially in the 2024 Guiness Men’s Six Nations.
He is as delighted as anyone by the 45-24 victory over Wales on Saturday 9 March in Cardiff on the penultimate day of the tournament.
“I’m very happy for them because a lot of criticism was levelled at them after the draw with Italy,” he says in the 7th episode of the BastaShow with Mathieu Bastareaud, to watch exclusively on the RugbyPassFR YouTube channel.
“I think the players were keen to show their true colours. They did it at the Millennium Stadium in the best possible way. Scoring 40 points there is something to remember in our careers.
“They played some great rugby, and it was great to see them play. They had nothing to lose. It couldn’t have been any worse than it looked.
“I’m also happy for the players who celebrated their first cap at the Millenium, particularly George-Henri Colombe, who has been playing for Racing for a while and now for La Rochelle. I’m really pleased for them.”
The 25-year-old prop George-Henri Colombe made his mark right from his first cap. He is already being touted as the successor to Uini Atonio, with whom he plays at Stade Rochelais.
“The quality of the players is there, as we see every weekend in the Top 14. Perhaps something didn’t go so well in the Six Nations Tournament that didn’t allow them to get the results everyone was expecting, but they were there,” says Teddy Thomas, who is full of praise for another player who made his mark in this tournament: scrum-half Nolann Le Garrec.
Dupont’s successor
“Little Nono… I met him at Racing. I clicked with him straight away. For me, he’s already a cracker on the pitch and during my career I’ve rarely seen crackers. He’s too strong technically. He arrived at the age of 17 and he was already talking into the forwards’ mouths and the forwards couldn’t stand him anymore.
“The 9s at the time spoke really badly. He spoke well but he was very bossy and that helped him get to the level he deserved to be at. I’m happy for him and I’m convinced that this is the start of great things for him.”
A performance that prompted former French international Jean-Baptiste Lafond to say: “Dupont, he can play rugby 7s for ten years, there’s no problem, there’s a replacement! One train can hide another.”
Unsurprisingly, Le Garrec has been returned with the XV de France for the final match of the Tournament against England in Lyon on Saturday 16 March. Thanks to the victory in Cardiff, the competition is back on track for Les Bleus, adding extra spice to this eagerly-awaited Crunch.
“We couldn’t have hoped for a better finish,” smiles Teddy Thomas.
“I’ve done two or three crunches (in 2020 and 2021). I must have a ratio of more losses than wins (one win and one loss). These are special matches, France-England. You see them when you’re young and it’s the same rivalry on the pitch when you play them.
“They really are our sworn enemies. The English have some trash talk where they like to tease, they talk a lot, but that’s also their strength. But then, when you get to know them at club level, having played with a few English players, they’re not like that at all.
“They’re competitive, it’s part of their culture, you have to accept it. It’s part of the game. That’s what makes you want to play them and watch the game.”
“If they call me, I’ll be there”
Although he hasn’t played for almost three years, does the 30-year-old still see himself in blue one day?
“It’s still a goal for me, because it’s not pointless for me to say that I’d retire from international rugby. As long as I’m active and can perform, if I’m called up, I’ll be there, because it’s always a pleasure to wear the blue jersey,” he says.
“But I’m more towards the end of my career than the beginning. There are players in place who are really good every weekend. They’re part of a continuity until the World Cup in Australia. I’ll be 33 and I’ll be 34.
“They’re younger than me. You have to be realistic and say that there are guys who perform better than you, who are younger and fresher. I was in the same situation when I was 19, taking the place of older guys.
“I’m thinking about it because if there’s a need I’ll be there, but I’m not making it my priority like I did before.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Danny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
5 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
35 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to comments