Matthieu Jalibert has rejoined France's 42-man squad after recovering from a quadriceps injury suffered in September and a subsequent training setback. His return offers relief to a pivot department missing Romain Ntamack, Thomas Ramos, and Antoine Hastoy. The severe personnel shortage had previously forced France to field captain Antoine Dupont out of his regular position during their 21-19 victory over South Africa.
Key points
France's severe injury crisis at the pivot position is easing with the return of an exper…: France's severe injury crisis at the pivot position is easing with the return of an experienced specialist flyhalf.
The national team had been depleted by the simultaneous November test absences of Jaliber…: The national team had been depleted by the simultaneous November test absences of Jalibert, Ramos, Hastoy, and Ntamack.
Captain Antoine Dupont had to interchange with Maxime Lucu at flyhalf to overcome the pre…: Captain Antoine Dupont had to interchange with Maxime Lucu at flyhalf to overcome the previous depth shortage.
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PARIS, Nov 15 : France have recalled flyhalf Matthieu Jalibert to the 42-man squad for Saturday's Nations Championship test against Argentina, which will help ease an injury crisis for the team.
Jalibert hurt his quadriceps in French Top 14 rugby in September and suffered a further setback in training last month but has been passed fit to play for France, who employed captain Antoine Dupont at flyhalf and interchanged him with scrumhalf Maxime Lucu as they edged South Africa 21-19 in Paris on Friday.
The innovative tactical ploy, which was seen as a gamble but ultimately proved successful, was necessitated by an injury crisis in the pivot position.
Jalibert, Thomas Ramos and Antoine Hastoy all missed the November tests, and Romain Ntamack dislocated his left shoulder in the first half of the victory over Fiji in Lyon on November 7.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Louise Heavens)
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