Fabien Galthie will name a 42-man squad for the upcoming November internationals next week, but will do so without the services of 17 frontline players.
Regular captain Antoine Dupont is included in that list, with the world-class scrum-half still sidelined following the horrific injury that he sustained during the Six Nations.
Growing injury list
He is set to return to full fitness in mid-November but won’t be rushed back to feature in the ‘grudge match’ against the Springboks, the first meeting between the two nations since Les Bleus‘ quarter-final exit at the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Dupont’s absence is far from the only concern for head coach Galthie, who will also be without four tighthead props in Uini Atonio, Tevita Tatafu, Sipili Falatea, and Paul Mallez.
Hooker Peato Mauvaka will also miss the November internationals, as will locks Matthias Halagahu and Josh Brennan.
There is some doubt around the availability of flanker François Cros, who sustained a knee injury in Toulouse’s Top 14 season opener.
France are blessed with top-quality scrum-halves, behind Dupont in the pecking order, but even those stocks have been hit with Maxime Lucu and Baptiste Couilloud sidelined. Nolann Le Garrec and Baptiste Jauneau toured with Les Bleus to New Zealand and could be called upon to do so again.
Lucu filled Dupont’s void during the Six Nations, helping France lift the title, and could do so again for the Tests against Fiji and Australia, but L’Equipe reports that the Springboks match could come too soon.
Additionally, fly-half/full-back Louis Le Brun is also sidelined as are outside backs Théo Attissogbe, Gabin Villière, and Romain Buros.
Bitter Danty
Finally, the midfield options have also been hit with Jonathan Danty and Yoram Moefana injured. The former started the quarter-final defeat to South Africa in 2023 and remains bitter from what unfolded.
In 2021, Pieter-Steph du Toit was red-carded for a head-on-head collision at the breakdown when he collided with Danty, with a similar incident occurring in the quarter-final, but was not picked up by the officials, with the Bok flanker escaping punishment.
While they say time is a healer, that is not true for the French centre, who insists that he will bear a grudge towards Du Toit and would refuse to go for a beer with the two-time World Rugby Player of the Year if offered a chance to clear the air.
“I recently saw on social media that Eben Etzebeth had reposted a video of his goalkeeper save saying that the ball went backwards,” he told Midi Olympique last November.
“These are bad memories, things that remain rather negative, but they are also part of the failures that allowed me to build myself and grow.
“Having a drink with Pieter-Steph du Toit in 10 years? No way.”
Bitter France star refuses to reconcile with Pieter-Steph du Toit after Rugby World Cup ‘injustice’
France’s current injury list:
Uini Atonio, Tevita Tatafu, Sipili Falatea, Paul Mallez, Matthias Halagahu, Josh Brennan, François Cros, Antoine Dupont, Maxime Lucu, Baptiste Couilloud, Louis Le Brun, Jonathan Danty, Yoram Moefana, Théo Attissogbe, Gabin Villière, Romain Buros
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