It's a choice that makes you talk. By dismissing Mathieu Bastareaud, the figure of French rugby in recent years, from his list for the 2019 World Cup, France coach Jacques Brunel has made a strong choice, seeming to mark the end of the history between the Blues and the Toulon center. Wednesday, Mathieu Bastareaud in person confirmed this clap end announcing his international retirement. Close to the player he had brought in 2011, the president of Rugby club Toulon Mourad Boudjellal regrets the microphone of Europe 1 this choice to dismiss "a boy in love with the Blues", and "who wanted to prove something "with the France team.
"It's the star of the French rugby in activity"
"He is a boy of sensitivity and extreme intelligence," adds the RCT boss at the microphone of Europe 1. "He is one of those atypical players who can do a lot of harm, and with whom we can share a lot of joy. " Mourad Boudjellal ensures that the disappointment of the native of Créteil is "immense".
"He counted a lot on this World Cup (...) He wanted to prove himself something with the Blues, he had a little taken the keys of the truck", he assures again, while Mathieu Bastareaud was even promoted captain during a trip to Wales in March 2018.
For the president of the RCT, this absence could be all the more detrimental as Mathieu Bastareaud is "the star of French rugby in activity at the time when it looks for itself". And to criticize the method adopted, while the player has "almost two years of preparation". "It's a bit like Jacques Brunel was told he would not make the World Cup," he says, while the announced successor of the coach of the Blues, Fabien Galthié, has already joined the staff of the France team before this World Cup in Japan. All the more, adds the Var leader, "from what I understand, he was told he would be there".