France face tougher Six Nations challenge against England, without Romain Ntamack

PARIS – France made their Six Nations opener look like a canter as they destroyed Wales on Jan 31 but lost Romain Ntamack through a red card, which ruled the fly-half out of the Feb 8 clash against England.

Fabien Galthie’s side rolled over the visitors in a 43-0 drubbing to add to their three victories in the 2024 Autumn Series, with Antoine Dupont playing chief tormentor in a scintillating first half at the Stade de France.

“The team is different when Dupont is here. He is the best player in the world and brings energy to all the players with his talent,” France No. 8 Gregory Alldritt said.

Dupont was back in the Six Nations after skipping the 2024 championship to prepare for the Olympics before winning the rugby sevens gold, and he returned with a bang. The scrum-half delivered three assists before being replaced shortly after the interval.

Although Dupont had to have his calf strapped, Galthie was reassuring about his condition ahead of next weekend’s clash against England at Twickenham.

“It’s a perfect start to the championship. Now we have to prepare for a big challenge against England. If we want to win the tournament, we need to beat everyone,” said winger Louis-Bielle Biarrey, who scored two of France’s seven tries.

Theo Attissogbe (two), Julien Marchand, Emilien Gailleton and Alldritt scored Les Bleus’ other tries.

Galthie praised France’s discipline, with only three penalties conceded, although Ntamack’s red card for a shoulder-to-head tackle was a woeful low for the fly-half.

Ntamack was back with France after missing the 2024 Six Nations and the World Cup through injuries.

“There is no question it’s a yellow card, whether it’s a red is debatable because he doesn’t fully engage into the tackle,” Galthie argued, despite some damning TV footage.

Whether the coach recalls Matthieu Jalibert, who has been sulking recently following his demotion from the starting line-up, is now anyone’s guess.

“With the team we have today, based on the results we’ve had, we will be awaited everywhere we go. We owe it only to ourselves because we’ve delivered good performances, now we need to confirm that. These away matches are often defining. In the tournaments that have gone well for us, there has always been a triggering match, often away, so we’ll make sure to prepare well,” said Dupont.

Meanwhile, Wales’ seventh successive defeat by France was as one-sided as the result suggested, with their inexperienced team never looking remotely close to scoring, having conceded 12 penalties and lost two men to the sin bin. It was their 13th successive loss.

“It was a tough night. We knew how dangerous France could be, but our discipline probably let us down and France capitalised on it,” said captain Jac Morgan, after his team failed to score in an international match for the first time since 2007.

Coach Warren Gatland added: “We scrummaged well and the forwards worked really hard, in terms of trying to get front-foot ball. But there’s no excuses about the result.” REUTERS