Fabien Galthié France Fiji Ntamack injury, Digi Mart USA News: France beat Fiji 54-17 in the Championship of Nations, and coach Fabien Galthié spoke to reporters after the match about the performance and the injury to Romain Ntamack.
Galthié said it was France’s first training session after ten days of preparation and called the win a bonus victory. He noted that it had been a long time since the team scored 50 points, and said the match helped launch the November window well.
He was not fully satisfied, however. He said his players were tentative at times and relied too heavily on memorized patterns, and that there was a lot of material to analyze and several areas to improve.
On defense, Galthié said the players had worked well, though France conceded two tries late in the match. He said Fiji was held to just three points until the final quarter of an hour, and that the players are beginning to absorb the work of new defense coach Geoffrey Doumayrou.
Asked about Ntamack, Galthié said the fly-half had gone to hospital for tests after being hit on the left shoulder and feeling it come out of place on the field. He said Ntamack is likely out for the rest of the competition.
Galthié said France is without its first-choice fly-half options Ntamack, Jalibert, Hastoy and Ramos, and will bring in young Palois player Despérès. He said the team will work to find a solution for facing the Springboks next Friday.
On the performance of Maxime Lucu, Galthié said the team had prepared that option at Marcoussis. He said Lucu controlled and directed the game alongside Antoine Dupont.
