No Antoine Dupont. Neither of Romain Ntamack, Louis-Bielle-Biarrey, Damian Penaud, Thomas Ramos or Grégory Alldritt … The stars of the Blues are absent in New Zealand where the XV of France disputes this Saturday morning (9 am), in Dunedin, the first of the three tests of his summer tour.
If the first city continues its rehabilitation after its operation of the cross -knee crossing of the right knee last March, all the others, like most of the executives of the “premium” workforce by Fabien Galkié, were left to rest due to the overloaded tricolor rugby calendars, between the Blues meetings, the Top 14 and the European Cup. Captain Antoine Dupont, even fit, would not have soared towards the country with a long white cloud in order to avoid overdose.
Absences which, we suspect, have fairly disappointed in New Zealand, a land of rugby that felt snubbed. Local media, such as the stuff information site, has even qualified these bruises as “tourists”. A frustration shared by Philippe Saint-André, now manager of Provence-Rugby in Pro D 2. The former international winger and captain of the Blues, coach from 2011 to 2015, strongly regrets this bias.
“We lack elegance,” he underlines in the Parisian-today in France on the sidelines of an interview on the victorious tour of 1994. In rugby, there is reciprocity. What looks like if all blacks came to us in November to play tests without their best players? »»
The 1994 captain insists: “If we fill the Stade de France it is because these are the big All Blacks. In return, we go there in summer to fill the boxes of the New Zealand federation. It’s normal. It is so that All Blacks continue to exist. We forget that rugby is global. Do we want the All Blacks to die? They are too important for rugby. »»
A feeling of shared injustice in New Zealand where a few great voices were raised with virulence against the policy established by tricolor rugby. “I am really disappointed,” said Justin Marshall, the former Mullee of All Blacks on the set of the Sky Sport New Zealand show, The Breakdown. The team that France sends is clearly undersized and with very little experience. It is total bullshit, the way they treat this tour. In November, we send our best elements to Europe to fill the stadiums. There they don’t. »»