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LONG READ Why factory-fitted scrum-halves are pouring off the French production line

Why factory-fitted scrum-halves are pouring off the French production line
2 weeks ago

The headline is an injustice. Although scrum-halves in France are indeed pouring off the production line with factory-like regularity, they do not have any robotic resemblances. They have flair, they have individuality, and they are their own men. Springbok tight forwards might argue the point, but it is probably the single deepest pool of talent at any position, in any one nation on planet rugby.

Stade Rochelais supremo Ronan O’Gara commented a while back there were at least six number nines in the Top 14 worthy of wearing the red cockerel on their chest, and it does not take too long to work out who they might be. Apart from ‘the best player in the world’ Antoine Dupont, there is Maxime Lucu of Union Bordeaux-Bègles, whose partnership with Matthieu Jalibert at the club is as well-grooved as Dupont’s with Romain Ntamack for Toulouse. Those four represent the most complete 9-10 complements in French rugby right now.

Consider Baptiste Serin of RC Toulon, who is enjoying something of a renaissance, even a rugby rebirth in 2024-25 in the Var department at the ripe old age of 30. Serin was also a previous long-term partner of Jalibert in the halves at UBB, so you can make the four, five.

Next off the conveyor belt is Baptiste Couilloud of Le LOU in Lyon, current captain of his club and a previous skipper of the national side in an Autumn Nations Cup final against England. Couilloud possesses, or rather is possessed, by a wolfish appetite for try-scoring which rivals even the great man of Les Rouges et Noirs.

The two young up-and-comers are Nolann Le Garrec of Parisian giants Racing 92 and Baptiste Jauneau of ASM Clermont Auvergne, le petit general of the all-conquering France Under-20s side of 2022 and 2023. It is not as if the assembly line stops there either. There are others shadowing the top half-dozen, waiting for the slightest sliver of opportunity: ex-Wasps and England man Dan Robson is kept out of the starting line-up at Section Paloise by rough, tough Thierry Daubagna, while Paul Graou would start for most other clubs were he not playing behind Dupont in the Haut-Garonne. Sébastien Bézy was forced out of Toulouse by the signing of Dupont from Castres and now finds himself behind Jauneau at Clermont. They are all players who have, or had at the apogée of their careers, international potential.

The scrum-half is the brains of the operation in France, and that is why historical number nines such as Jacques Fouroux, Pierre Berbizier, Dmitri Yachvili and Morgan Parra are more prominent in a trip down French rugby’s memory lane than the arguably more talented men they partnered – Jean-Pierre Romeu, Freddy Michalak and Francois Trinh-Duc. It is also why they are the ones who push hardest to mentor the national team after their playing careers finish – Fouroux, Berbizier and Fabien Galthié in the contemporary era.

Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack form a deadly half-back pairing for Toulouse and France (Photo by NICOLAS TUCAT/AFP via Getty Images)

The number 10 may provide the dancing pyrotechnics at rugby’s equivalent of the Moulin Rouge, but make no mistake – the scrum-half is elected leader and runs the government from the Palais Bourbon. As a player and a coach, he shapes the team he wants around him.

A simple statistical sidebar can be used to illustrate this. In the current Top 14 season, six of the top ten kickers are number nines, but that number dwindles to two in Super Rugby 2024. Out of a 15-strong list of Top 14 kickers who average over 10 kicks per game in the league, 11 are scrum-halves and only four operate from fly-half. The list includes Dupont, Graou, Lucu and Serin, and other influential overseas half-backs such as Montpellier’s Cobus Reinach and Ben White of Toulon.

The situation is turned on its head in Super Rugby Pacific, where only two of the top 15 kickers in the competition play scrum-half [Willi Heinz of the Crusaders and Jordi Viljoen of the Hurricanes], and the number of kickers who average more than 10 kicks per game drops to a mere six. There is less kicking south of the border, and that automatically shifts the ‘central intelligence agency’ of the team out one spot, to first five-eighth.

It is equally hard to think of any Super Rugby head coach, recent or present, who specialised as a scrum-half in their playing days. There is no ex-scrummie coaching in Australia or New Zealand of the same stature as a Fouroux or a Berbizier or a Galthié in France.

The overweening emphasis on the number nine jersey can cause some creative friction when change is in the air. Racing 92 are still learning how best to fuse the outstanding talent of Le Garrec with a man of vast experience, one well versed in running the cutter, Owen Farrell. If the power balance needs to shift to accommodate ‘Faz’, it also needs to respect French rugby culture in the process.

This has happened before in Paris. Listen to the words of Welsh sage Eddie Butler in The Guardian back in 2016 after Racing had narrowly defeated Leicester Tigers in a Champions Cup semi-final.

“What Dan Carter did for Racing took this non-involvement to a new level. It required a partner and, here, Maxime Machenaud stepped forward, a half-back colleague more than happy to use Carter as the ultimate dummy. The scrum-half kicked and ran the show, linking with his forwards, prodding the team forward by hand and boot. It was a performance worthy of Carter himself.”

Even a playmaker as great as Carter was restricted to making his contributions on defence, making two crucial tackles in that nail-biting win at Welford Road.

There were signs the new point of equilibrium is being discovered in Racing’s 31-22 victory over the Stormers in the final pool round of the Champions Cup. Le Garrec was deservedly nominated for ‘star du match’ but more importantly, a novel playmaking balance between the scrum-half, Farrell at 10 and Dan Lancaster at 12 was increasingly evident.

No player-of-the-match effort by the young nine goes by without an outrageous improvised pass. Remember this from the last Six Nations against Wales?

 

At La Défense arena on Saturday evening, it was matched by a one-handed, underarm delivery going in the opposite direction.

 

The kicking ratio at Racing is evenly balanced between nine and 10, with 95 kicks launched from the top two scrum-halves compared to 94 off the boot of the main two 10s after 13 rounds. The same equipoise was a feature of the game against the Stormers. Le Garrec handled the longer punts, especially on exits, while nine and 10 contributed shorter kicks on attack.

 

 

 

The last grubber by Farrell sparked a piece of quick thinking by Lancaster which led directly to Racing’s third try.

 

After fishing the original ‘live’ ball out from behind the advertising hoardings, Lancaster hurls the lineout throw out to Farrell and one pass later, Vinaya Habosi is scoring a try on the other side of the field.

Le Garrec’s quicksilver footwork in and around the edges of the ruck was a problem for the Capetonians throughout, and it was tacked on to further excellent work by Farrell and Lancaster in the build-up to Racing’s first try.

 

 

 

In the last two clips, the position is set up by a break by Le Garrec, amplified by a change of direction from Lancaster and finished by an exquisite double-pump from Farrell.

France is still the main breeding ground for dominant number nines by the truckload – scrum-halves who not only goad and coax the best out of the big men in front of them, but dictate the character of the play outside. Dupont, Serin, Lucu, Le Garrec, Couilloud, Jauneau.

Dupont may be irreplaceable, but he is not indispensable. Sometimes there may be two of them on the pitch at one and the same time. Half will go on to become head coaches or directors of rugby after their playing days are over.

It is impossible to alter the culture of French rugby from without, even the great ones such as Carter and Johhny Sexton have found out the truth of that statement. But it may be pulled, slowly inveigled towards a new point of balance from within. A character change, via a stream of gentle negotiation.

At Racing 92 and maybe beyond it, Farrell could become a key player in that process: As the legendary U.S college basketball coach John Wooden once said, “Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”

Comments

31 Comments
C
Carlos 14 days ago

I remember watching Fouroux/Romeu in Argentina some time ago. Fouroux was ferocious! One time, if I remember correctly, he kicked his number eight Bastiat on his bum because they were not pushing hard enough! He would yell at them like crazy. Locals called him little napoleon, his head helped.

Fouroux’s visit also started the zeppelin rugby pass in Argentina.

J
JW 16 days ago

Also, just watching the Leinster Stormers game now and note a couple of scrums around the 65min mark were Leinster wheel, not driving straight, yet while going forward, and get awarded the penalty both times. Perfect examples of what a lottery scrums are.

N
NB 16 days ago

True Fourche got pinged for going straight through the Leinster scrum too, in a real show of dominance. Ironic.

J
JW 16 days ago

I don't see the point in listing 15 players, all that is going to do is skew the data based on the favour strat of the teams that rotate/share evenly their minutes.


Doing analysis on the top 12 and 14 first fives, and the top 12 and 14 scrum halves, would also be more relevant (though maybe difficult given the datas presentation?).


What I can see is that 3 of the top 5 are flyhalves

There is less kicking south of the border, and that automatically shifts the ‘central intelligence agency’ of the team out one spot, to first five-eighth.

What is the thought basis behind connecting these two points?


As far as the comparison with Super Rugby (thanks for the mention), I'm surprised a few aussie teams didn't favour the strength of their 9s (0 in top 5) but not surprised that the Canes and Saders used their 9's a lot with their predicaments. What is interesting in NZs case is what has caused a resurgence in half back authority, maybe it is the great man himself with the recent 9's like Ratima, Roigard, Jordi, Hotham (not sure about Pledger at the Landers) all have more than a few parts of Anton Dupont about them? As far as pure orchestration goes, in the French context, I can see Roigard and Canes trying to play more from 9 (well the coaches don't actually give that confidence but w/e).


I enjoyed the balance and relative effectiveness between Racings 2 players in that game. You can see the kick being used to good effect from 10 and maybe that is the teams/countries good understanding of how, when and where, to use each?


So maybe some direct comparisons would be more accurate?

Dupont (2 starts of 15) v Ntamack (7)

15 Tackles 41

26 Kicks 40

1 Line Breaks 1

33 Carries 38

184 Metres Carried 129

177 Touches 209


Graou (10)

33 Tackles

46 Kicks

6 Line Breaks

68 Carries

427 Metres Carried

749 Touches


Lucu (735min) v Jalibert (567min)

99 Tackles 26

99 Kicks 84

5 Line Breaks 8

51 Carries 68

198 Metres Carried 430

708 Touches 298


Ruru v Lafage

71 Tackles 36

91 Kicks 68

1 Line Breaks 0

63 Carries 43

102 Metres Carried 247

613 Touches 286


Serin v Garbisi (Enzo, both 10s a couple hundred minutes behind serin) (highest kicking team)

73 Tackles 37 (33)

124 Kicks 45 (46)

5 Line Breaks 0 (2)

62 Carries 38 (35)

191 Metres Carried 149 (154)

631 Touches 189 (203(


Ratima v McKenzie

94 Tackles 88

22 Kicks 162

3 Line Breaks 8

46 Carries 132

327 Metres Carried 744

848 Touches 650


Christie v Plummer

57 Tackles 71

21 Kicks 97

1 Line Breaks 5

31 Carries 88

109 Metres Carried 408

624 Touches 346


Tate v Lynagh

52 Tackles 74

48 Kicks 66

9 Line Breaks 3

67 Carries 63

371 Metres Carried 314

911 Touches 246


Gordon v Edmed

94 Tackles 37

68 Kicks 62

4 Line Breaks 3

56 Carries 68

407 Metres Carried 220

979 Touches 322


So as expected Aussie very much 9 oriented (might be more because of the personal) but still not quite as much as France. NZ typically 10 oriented in fairly balanced setups.

N
NB 16 days ago

Aussie teams play off 9??


I'm sure no Australians would recognize what you mean. Even the 'stats' you quote are entirely misguided.


The top kickers in Oz by number of kicks per game were as follows :

#10 Ben Donaldson [10.7],

#10 Carter Gordon [9.2],

#10 Tom Lynagh [8.9],

#10 Lawson Creighton [8.8].


Even Tane Edmed kicked more times per game than Jake Gordon - 6.7 times per game compared to Gordon's 5.9.


Only the Brumbies two #9's [Ryan Lonergan and Harrison Goddard] feature in the list because the Brumbies are the only Aussie team who play off 9!


Simple when you know what to look for!🤣

E
Ed the Duck 18 days ago

My recollection was that Finn pretty much ran the show at Racing when he was there without too much friction from Iribraren? But then Finn has his own pretty effective way of building really strong relationships on and off pitch with his peers. Also seeing that at Bath with the near immediate impact he had there when he arrived.


France pretty much sits alone with its sh dominance in the team, have always wondered how it came to be that way?

N
NB 18 days ago

Interesting he turned into a kicking 10 then too - Racing were the biggest kicking team in the Top 14 by far! Even so IIRC the duties were still fairly evenly divided between him and Le Garrec.


In answer to your last query, I just think they love their big forwards in France, so they love a forward driver just as much.

G
GH 18 days ago

There is indeed a french specificity of scrum-halves used as game leaders. They are given a relative independance on the field in the way they orient the game. Mind, all are not able to do that, then coaches have their own ideas on how to play (fools), and out of France you can find the same if rarer kind of players. Farr-Jones, Stringer, Gregan, Genia (three Australians, is there a specificity there too ?) etc. You'll note too that foreign fly-halves have sometimes problems to adapt to top14. Russel, Sexton, Farell were/are criticized while Carter accepted his role (maybe helped by his previous year in top 14). They came from teams where the tactics are somewhat stricter and less supposed to think 'out of the box'.

J
JW 16 days ago

Carter indeed was critized in that first year wasn't he?


You're only thinking of greats, you can but a lot of recent Wallaby 9s in that list too. NZ had it's versions also, before the likes of Smith, who with this speed and pass emphasized the advantage of space, or distance between playmaker and defence.


You can probably go back to the discussion of a preference for size in the pack that is the reason those NZ 9s were all big, and the small ones merely shifted the point of play.

N
NB 18 days ago

I think the Aussie game was concentrated around Will Genia for a while around 2013, maybe not so much with the others - Stringer was always paired with Sexton or O'Gara, who played second fiddle to nobody! - whlle Gregan had Larkham bside him [ditto].


Playing off 10 or 12 is just different, but certainly not more formulaic. I gess the emphasis on 9 is inevitable given the size of French Top 14 packs and the huge stress on set-piece.

O
OJohn 18 days ago

Everybody trying to copy Quade Cooper these days. Even Dan Carter tried it with a few sidesteps but failed miserably.


Looking forward to an article on Nucifora's latest move.

E
Ed the Duck 18 days ago

Isn’t Quade a kiwi, or did he get a passport in the end…???

N
NB 18 days ago

How did Quade creep in again?? Is he a French 9?🤣

M
Mzilikazi 18 days ago

Superb article. Flair is that magic ingredient the French have always had, in my lifetime of watching this great game. So often it is the key link man between the forwards and backs that is the "spark plug". It is just ridiculous how many great and good ones you identify in your essay, Nick. Even in this professional era, with defences so much more tight and alert, these genius players are alive and well, and carrying on the tradition from down the rugby ages.

J
JW 16 days ago

Yes, and Nick will not agree, flair is the unbeatable wildcard you always want/need to win/be the best too.

N
NB 18 days ago

Thanks Miz! Yes there are plenty about indeed!

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