France rugby team Florian Verhaeghe starting place, Digi Mart USA News (Marcoussis, France): Tuesday’s training session at Marcoussis provided several noteworthy takeaways ahead of the test match against Fiji, scheduled for Saturday evening in Lyon. Among them, the situation of Florian Verhaeghe appears to be one of the most notable.
The Montpellier second-row wore the number 4 jersey during the portion of the session open to the media. That detail is significant, since the responsibility had until now been assigned to Hugo Auradou during the first week of the camp.
At this stage of preparation, Verhaeghe appears to have taken a lead in the race for a starting place.
Another notable development was the absence of Paul Boudehent on the field. The Rochelais third-row was rested by the French coaching staff, and no official explanation was given.
Last week, the former Vannes player had been among those expected to start against Fiji.
Lined up with François Cros and Cameron Woki in the opposing sides, he had regularly been in the number 6 position within the probable starting team. Esteban Capilla was expected to take his place in the back row in his absence.
Among the other takeaways from the session, Régis Montagne continues to make a case for himself. The Clermont tighthead prop trained with the replacements wearing the number 18 shirt, a sign that could bring him closer to a place on the matchday squad.
Several players were rested. As planned, Paul Graou and Axel Desperes did not take part in the collective training.
The two scrum-halves had played in a Top 14 match on Sunday evening, when Pau beat Toulouse. Tyler Duguid was also being managed after playing in Montpellier’s large win over Castres.
Fabien Galthié’s official squad is due to be announced Thursday and should confirm or refute the trends observed since the start of the week.
