Matthieu Jalibert will accompany Antoine Dupont against the English on Saturday at Twickenham.
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Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP
The announcement by Fabien Galthié of the titular team to face England on Saturday (5.45 p.m.) was eagerly awaited, after weeks of controversy over the (porous) health bubble around the XV of France.
It was also during this press conference that the coach was able to speak for the first time on the situation since February 14.
But the composition, first.
Main information: The tenure of Matthieu Jalibert at the opening alongside Antoine Dupont, to the detriment of Romain Ntamack, who recently returned from injury.
Deprived of the start of the Tournament due to a double jaw fracture, Ntamack will therefore be on the bench at Twickenham.
The three-quarter center Virimi Vakatawa, also absent during the successes in Italy (50-10) and Ireland (15-13) due to a knee injury, regains a starting place.
We also wondered who would be chosen to accompany Paul Willemse after Bernard Leroux's package.
It will ultimately be Toulon's second line Romain Taofifénua.
The eagerly awaited first words of Galthié
Fabien Galthié then took the time to return to the Marcoussis cluster and the negative impact that these last weeks have left on the image of the XV of France.
“We had very little time to procrastinate, we are fully committed to the project.
We are very exposed, the France team is very popular.
We can understand and accept everything that is happening around, the criticisms… This is part of our missions and our role, said the coach.
I don't blame myself in this episode.
Everything was done in accordance with the rules.
Nothing new under the sun, then.
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