The management have selected the following players to represent France in their solitary warm-up match before the World Cup:
1 DESHAYE 2 BIGOT 3 BERNADOU 4 M. FELEU 5 MADOUSSOU FALL 6 ESCUDERO 7 CHAMPON 8 T. FELEU 9 CHAMBON 10 ARBEZ 11 ARBEY 12 NEISEN 13 M. MENAGER 14 GRISEZ 15 BOURGEOIS
16 RIFFONNEAU 17 BROSSEAU 18 KHALFAOUI 19 IKAHEHEGI 20 MAKA 21 CISSOCKHO 22 QUEYROI 23 TUY
This choice takes a lot for granted. Top players like Pauline Bourdon Sansus and Gabrielle Vernier have to wait their turn. PBS will find her cutting edge only when the big show begins.
The last two names take some understanding: both Queyroi and Tuy are essentially No 10s. Perhaps they are both expected to perform a sort of Rowland-role – play anywhere, any time.
The answer may lie in the additional names. Five ‘Supplementaries’ are added. Let’s assume the English staff has agreed to let them indulge in rolling subs, though that calls into question the full international status of the game.
The five are: BALEINADOGO, BERTHOUMIEU, BOULARD, GERIN and VERNIER.
Again, if all of them were to appear, that reduces the available playing time for all 28 players. Here’s not to reason why.
If they are going merely to enjoy the local atmosphere, I can offer no logical reason for their presence. It would still leave four of the full squad out of contention.
Some need the exposure far more than others. Even the French 7s captain, Carla Neisen, hasn’t played 15s for four years; and alongside her Marine Menager returns to the centre after many games on the wing.
The French have a straightforward passage through to the knock-outs; they play Italy, Brazil and South Africa. The essential question is: can they reach the final for the first time – even take the beautiful new trophy home?
I suspect many French fans will join me in doubting it.
The co-coaches have gone on mystifying all of us.
