A new French squad is busy with its first training session under the leadership of François Ratier.
It’s lasting four days from 9-12 February at Blagnac, a suburb of Toulouse. After a second session at the National Training Centre at Marcoussis (24-27 March), Ratier will sit down with his two assistants, Gerald Bastide and Florent Wieczorek, to decide the final 32.
The squad:
Forwards
*YLONA AVRIL
MAKORITA BALEINADOGO
*AMALIA BAZOLA ALLIERES
ROSE BERNADOU
AXELLE BERTHOUMIEU
*CLOE CORREA
LEA CHAMPON
CHARLOTTE ESCUDERO
*ISIS ESPUGA
MADOUSSOU FALL RACLOT
MANAE FELEU
ASSIA KHALFAOUI
*MATHILDE LAZARKO
*TIFEN LESIEU
TAINE MAKA
*MAILYS MAILAGI
AMBRE MWAYEMBE
*ELSA PEYRAS
ELISA RIFFONNEAU
*CHARLOTTE RUFAS
*SOBEHIAN SOQETA
*EVA TOUGNE
KIARA ZAGO
(23)
Backs
CARLA ARBEZ
*PAULINE BARRAT
EMILIE BOULARD
PAULINE BOURDON-SANSUS
MORGANE BOURGEOIS
*ANAIS GRANDO
JOANNA GRISEZ
*MARIE IBANEZ
CHLOE JACQUET
LEA MURIE
*LYLOU PEDUSSOUD
LINA QUEYROI
*AUBANE ROUSSET
LINA TUY
GABRIELLE VERNIER
(15)
* uncapped
A new broom
It’s tempting to say Ratier is making a clean sweep.
Alongside sixteen new faces he has recalled a grand total of two players with more than 50 caps (PBS and Gaby Vernier of course). There may be one or two older hands currently injured, but the average age is astonishingly low.
It means he has his eye on two targets: the 6 Nations starting on 11 April (see below) and – through the long lens – the Australian RWC of 2029.
Many of the new names are culled from the highly successful U18 and U20 squads. That in turn means he recognises the limits of the players he has inherited. Across the next three years he can expect the best of this new generation, aged now between 17 and 22, to reach their peak.
His philosophy
Ratier first won International recognition when his Canada side reached the 2014 RWC final in Paris. Since returning to his native soil he has led the very strong Stade Bordelais outfit to two championship titles.
By all accounts we should see a sea change in the players’ approach. Keywords for him are discipline, rigour and a thorough competence in the basics of the game.
That may sound very unFrench, and it seems to me to run quite contrary to the playing style the previous administration preferred. But he knows a winning game is built on mastery of the basics.
Of course we can still expect les Bleues to play with the flair they own the rights to, but we may see fewer of those lapses – the forced pass, the risky option, the momentary lapse – that have so often prevented them reaching the heights.
Forgiveness is all
In that respect we may welcome the return of Axelle Berthoumieu, cause of the biggest disciplinary case of the last RWC in the game against Ireland. She has only just returned to play in an Elite 1 match after a gap of over four months. That has given her a lot of time for thought and regret. It’s pleasing to see Ratier prepared to pick her again.
Les Bleues suffered only three yellows through the course of the RWC, but the misdemeanours were seized upon by papers anxious to keep their sales up.
True to type
A favourite phrase these days is “heads-up rugby”. Ratier will not be extolling a “stick it up the jumper” approach.
But he has picked a whole host of new forwards, not least in the front five. That is the starting point for beating England.
Some notes on choices
One unexpected inclusion is Lea Murie. I saw her play on the right wing against England at Doncaster, which hints at how long ago that was, 2019! She’s been used only rarely since. I suspect Kelly Smith (now Taylor) retains happier memories of that game than she does.
Marie Ibanez is, as you might well surmise, the daughter of the mighty Raphael, owner of 98 French caps and now a leading figure in the FFR establishment.
Isis Espuga comes from Andorra, a tiny state that fights well above its weight on the sporting stage. She moved north to further her career.
Sobehian Soqeta has her roots in Fiji but learned her trade as a prop in New Zealand.
Like the other youngsters rising from the U20s, they will be used to victory – though one of their number regretted the small number of age-group games they could enjoy. The newish U20 6N Summer Series has given them a big boost.
All these unfamiliar names mean others no longer find favour (just the chance they are recovering from injury). They include: Hina Ikahehegi, Agathe Gerin, Yllana Brosseau, Teani Feleu, Serapine Okemba and Nassira Konde (she was ‘Barbied’, like Ellie Kildunne!). Kelly Arbey is away with the 7s squad.
Just two players have retired since the RWC, Marine Menager and Manon Bigot, the hooker (ditto England).
Any private detective, willing to adopt a disguise as a goalpost, will be able to take notes on the new French way of life. For the rest of us the excitement of the unknown remains.
My guess is that England, so overwhelming in experience and quality, will still prove too strong for a new-look French outfit in Bordeaux, but 2029 could tell a different story.
France’s 6N fixtures:
R1 v Italy H
R2 v Wales A
R3 v Ireland H
R4 v Scotland A
R5 v England H
Ratier could hardly have wished for a more favourable draw; three home games against two of their strongest opponents, and two aways against sides they’d expect to beat.
One last thought: I do like the way the FFR adds the names of players’ starting clubs. It’s a feature the RFU might well emulate. Give credit where it’s due.
