The blue counter is still running very fast

17 match sheets for Grégory Alldritt and Anthony Jelonch, 16 for Antoine Dupont and Yoram Moefana … In the middle of last season, these small groups …

17 match sheets for Grégory Alldritt and Anthony Jelonch, 16 for Antoine Dupont and Yoram Moefana … After the mid-season, these already small groups culminated at high altitude under the anxious gaze of the coach. And we provide you with the transfer in minutes…

However, there is a rule in this field, mentioned by Fabian Galthi in an interview with “Medi Olympique”: “A player between 19 and 24 years old, if he wishes to be present at the international level, must not exceed 30 matches per season; the player The one between the ages of 24 and 29, if he wants to be good at the international level, must not exceed 25, and the player between the ages of 29 and 34 who wishes to continue at the highest level must not exceed 20. This is the rule and everyone knows it. »

“We have to deal with it: we work more with autonomous systems”

Just under eight months from world Cup (September 8 – October 28), and while the Irish and New Zealanders are managed by order by their federations, key executives are on their way to breaking this very theoretical glass ceiling. A diagnosis equivalent to lighting a blinking orange light on the Blues’ dashboard when it’s reported that World Cup preparations will begin just a week after the final of one of the tougher Top 14 teams.

Oh sure, it’s a recurring theme in French rugby. However, the accumulation of injuries (1) before the start of the tournament made it particularly important.

club efforts

It’s also clear that Fabian Galthi didn’t wait for February to calculate the scale of the problem. As early as last summer, discussions were held between representatives of the FFR and LNR in an effort to organize playing time for the foreigners. But this initiative is like setting up a gas plant, the two parties parted on the promise of management in good intelligence. “We have to deal with it, this is what we have been doing for three years, this is what Fabian Galthi said at the beginning of the month in Belvis. We are working more on self-regulations. »

If a coach adopts a measured tone, it’s because clubs and international employers generally play the game, if it really needs to be remembered. Doing this, sometimes taking 30 points from La Rochelle “, confirmed, a few weeks ago, Ugo Mola, director of Stade Toulousain, the largest supplier of blues.

But despite this well-intentioned declaration, that didn’t stop him from issuing a practical nuance: “Our international players need above all to play high-level matches, whether for club or national team… It is the organization of our competitions that begs the debate.” Players also own various physical assets.

physical curve

The Blues’ performance director, Thibault Giroud endorses the assertion: “Individualism predominates in the analysis of men’s performances. […] The recent injuries are also the result of the facts of the match: whether it be Cameron Wookie’s broken hand or the knees of “Joe” Dante and Pierre Bourgaret. Our sport is going faster and faster, the accumulation of minutes must be taken into account. But that’s the way it is, the French model is like that. »

“Maintaining a very high intensity for ten months out of the year is not possible.”

Despite this observation, Thibaut Giroud does not underestimate the impact of the reality of the French rugby ecosystem: “That is why I say it is important that the World Cup arrives quickly. For ten months of the year the intensity cannot be maintained too high: there are necessarily fluctuations in form or injuries.”

The low point of this curve should not occur in just under eight months…

(1) Cameron Wookey, Jonathan Dante, Maxime Loko, Beto Mufaka, Jean-Baptiste Gros, Pierre Bourgaret, Arthur Vincent.