“The world has always feared the day French rugby gets it together”
STEPHEN JONES
Rugby’s most outspoken and influential journalist
FRANCE ARE firm favourites for the Six Nations with those jolly chaps, the bookmakers. Why is this a little surprising? Purely because over the years, the doubts and inconsistencies that always surround this magnificent rugby nation tended to persuade punters to keep their money in their pocket.
But something seems to have changed this time. And it is all so exciting. The rest of the world has always feared the day when French rugby, at Test and club level, gets itself truly together to make the most of those God-given talents and the sheer size of the sport. With the Six Nations upon us and the 2023 World Cup in France on the horizon, has that day dawned?
When Romain Ntamack – at last, France have a fly-half – set off on his death-or-glory run in the autumn, hounded by three All Blacks behind his own line, he
