A small victory for the player of the Stade Toulousain (1.90, 107 kg) who, to celebrate his 20th selection at the Stade de France - only! -, split a performance in his image, XXL, finishing best tackler of the Blues (18, including 13 in the first half).

Impeccable in the rucks, in defense, in support, the 28-year-old, discreet but of an unfailing commitment, has become indispensable to Fabien Galthié's team.

Not too bad for a player who arrived in the competition through the back door, since on the first day against Italy he was not part of the list of 23.

After being injured for a long time in a knee, the Toulouse, of the team victorious of the Grand Slam in 2022, had indeed resumed the competition only on January 22.

The third row had therefore watched his teammates' sluggish victory (29-24) from the stands, before being recalled to prepare Ireland in Dublin, where he did not come into play until the 69th minute.

Las, his performance had not allowed the Tricolores to go up the slope against the mastery of the XV of the Clover.

It was during the third match of the Blues, against Scotland in Saint-Denis, that the Cros Tournament changed.

This podiatrist by training, who intervenes at the hospital in Toulouse when he is not training rugby, came into play for the first time in the 7th minute to replace his teammate in club, Anthony Jelonch, victim of a concussion, before coming out in the 14th and then returning this time definitively in the 26th, after the injury to the cruciate ligaments of the third line Gersois, package for several months.

"Serial tackler"

Not disturbed, Cros had then delivered an impeccable performance with 16 tackles to the key, attracting the praise of a British press under the spell.

Enough to make him an indisputable starter in England, which he had not been since the 2022 edition of the Tournament, on March 19 against the XV de la Rose precisely.

At Twickenham, he honored this "bonus" start by again making sixteen tackles, for a presence at all times alongside his teammates, until the last minute.

And for the last match of the France XV Tournament, he did it again, finishing the match with the most tackles tied with Welshman Justin Tipuric (18) and staying there another 80 minutes on the pitch.

Trained at the Seilh-Aussonne-Fenouillet agreement, near Toulouse where he was born almost 29 years ago - he will celebrate them next Saturday - then in Granada, François Cros, at Stade Toulousain since 2009, has always worn the red and black colors.

Asked about his teammate's performance on the wing of the third line, Charles Ollivon replied: "well as usual, François had a great game".

"I love playing with him: our first time was in the prep"' World Cup 2019, in Nice. François Cros had then honored his first selection, during a match against Scotland.

"Since then, we've done a lot together, it's going great, we get along well and we have good automatisms and it's a treat to play with him."

© 2023 AFP