Marcoussis (France) (AFP)
No crowd for the Blues. Sunday training of the XV of France, open to supporters, did not end with an autograph session, coronavirus forces, but gave trends on the composition of the team which should face Scotland, Sunday in the Six Nations Tournament.
About 800 supporters braved the rain and snow which fell on the National Center of Marcoussis (Essonne) in the day of Sunday. With their flags and their song, they animated a half-fig, half-grape session of the Blues, opposed to the Espoirs du Stade Français led by the former XV captain of France Pascal Papé (65 selections).
Difficult to draw lessons from it, as the gap between the France team and the young Parisians was glaring.
In this opposition, coach Fabien Galthié launched right wing Clermont winger Damian Penaud, recovered from his left calf injury which cost him the first three matches of the Tournament, and confirmed the usual center Gaël Fickou on the left .
A trend that would send Teddy Thomas on the bench, even in the stands. The Racingman pays for its defensive shortcomings against Wales (27-23).
Paul Willemse and Bernard Le Roux, who form the second straight line since the start of the competition, were left to rest. Unless surprised, their presence at Murrayfield, on the 4th day, is not questioned. No more than that of the opener Antoine Dupont, the first to the applause meter at Marcoussis, just behind Galthié.
The Blues are reunited at 28 until Friday, when Fabien Galthié and Raphaël Ibanez will announce the list of 23 who will travel to Edinburgh, where the Blues have not been taxed since 2014.
Furthermore, according to the British newspaper The Observer, a meeting of the organizers of the Six Nations Tournament is scheduled for Monday to discuss the alternatives after the postponement of Ireland-Italy, initially scheduled for Saturday in Dublin, and which may not be replayed until October. , the Aviva Stadium was not free due to football matches in particular.
France, for its part, has become one of the main foci of the coronavirus in Europe with Italy and Germany and has crossed the symbolic threshold of 130 cases since the end of January, according to the Ministry of Health on Sunday.
Friday, before the intensification of the epidemic, the French government had announced the cancellation of all "gatherings of more than 5,000 people" in a closed environment as well as certain outdoor events, such as the Paris half-marathon scheduled for Sunday.
© 2020 AFP