France fly-half selection against South Africa Springboks, Digi Mart USA News: Maxime Lucu appears the clear favorite to take over from Romain Ntamack for Friday’s match against the Springboks, even though he is a scrum-half. The reason is partly that no other candidate has stood out.
The absences of Matthieu Jalibert, Thomas Ramos and Antoine Hastoy through injury have considerably depleted the available pool.
The most credible candidate after Lucu may have been already on the team sheet Saturday night against Fiji (54-17). Kalvin Gourgues, who started at second center alongside Yoram Moefana and scored a try, was trained as a fly-half at Stade Toulousain.
He later made his place at center and even at full-back, and he has the advantage of playing alongside Antoine Dupont every week, which provides some reference points, as well as a good kicking game.
However, at professional level he has started only one match wearing the number 10 shirt, last season in a defeat to Perpignan. The explosive player has already said he prefers to play at center, and it is in that position that the France staff plans to use him for the future, starting with the 2027 World Cup.
Moving him into the halfback pairing would require one more change in the starting lineup.
Axel Despérès is also valued by the France staff. The young Palois was called into the 42-player squad for the first time last February and was a reserve on Saturday.
Fabien Galthié pointed out that he “is having a very good season with Pau,” where he has already accumulated 78 Top 14 matches at just 22 years old. Because England’s Joe Simmonds is often injured, Despérès has become accustomed to running the game for Section, a playoff side last spring and currently second in the championship.
Lucu was likely thinking of him when he remarked Saturday night, “We have a lot of people in that position, and some gems.” Despérès was a finalist at the U20 World Cup with France as understudy to Bordeaux’s Hugo Reus. It is nonetheless hard to imagine a baptism of fire against the formidable Springboks.
That would be a poisoned gift for a first cap, and the French side will rather need experience.
The same argument applies against Castres fly-half Louis Le Brun, who was called up to Marcoussis during the Tournament and again into the 42 for the start of this Nations Championship but has never been capped. His club’s poor run, 13th in the Top 14, is also not ideal for confidence.
At 24, he is in his fourth full season with CO, and his very solid build (1.88 m, 100 kg) could have been useful against South Africa.
As for Louis Carbonel, also on the list released Saturday night, his most recent of five caps dates back to the summer of 2021 during the tour of Australia. The double U20 world champion (2018 and 2019) was at one point seen as the future of the position for the France team.
However, he was blocked by strong competition at senior level and went through three difficult seasons at Montpellier and then Stade Français, although he bounced back last year.
