Why brilliant French half may miss Wallabies series

Former Wallabies Kane Douglas and Scott Higginbotham, now of Bordeaux, can do Rugby Australia an enormous favour this weekend by dumping Toulouse out of the Top 14 semi-finals.

While the extended Wallabies squad has been busy preparing for the condensed three-Test series this week, events unfolding in the northern hemisphere will have a far greater impact on how the matches will unfold, what they will look like, and ultimately who will win.

French talisman Antoine Dupont could be a high-profile absence against the Wallabies next month.Credit:AP

The implications of this decision are enormous, as Kurtley Beale’s Racing 92 meet La Rochelle in the other semi – and we will examine the potential omissions from the French team later in this article.
However, there is no doubt that Dupont and Ntamack are the headline acts for French rugby at present. Their presence in Australia would add real credibility to the series, even if they were only available for the second and third Tests.

Ireland’s tour of Australia in 2018 was a success because they had Conor Murray and Johnny Sexton starting together for Tests two and three. You can put Dupont and Ntamack in that sort of company. Wallabies coach Dave Rennie is right to talk up French depth at the moment, but he would surely want the Toulouse pair to be available to really get a sense of where his team is sitting.

Unfortunately, it will require an upset from Bordeaux, who lost to Toulouse earlier this month at home and now must beat them on the road. Rugby Australia must prepare for the fact that some of France’s best players just won’t be on the plane.

In the other match, they will probably be waving their flags for La Rochelle against Beale’s Racing 92. La Rochelle have some terrific French players such as back-rowers Kevin Gourdon and Gregory Alldritt, but these names will only be familiar to purists.

Dupont’s Toulouse already have the runs on the board against Bordeaux and now face them at home in the Top 14 semi-finals.Credit:Getty

In the Racing 92 line-up, Gael Fickou, Teddy Thomas and Fijian-born Virimi Vakatawa would add some star quality to the French squad if they do not make the Top 14 final. In fact, even if Dupont and Ntamack miss the tour the blow would be softened if the Racing 92 trio are on deck.

Fickou has matured into a strong Test centre and Vakatawa is an excitement machine with ball in hand. All three started for France when they beat Wales in their final game of the Six Nations: the Wallabies midfield would be well tested if Racing 92 do not make it through to the final.

The possible omissions may make you wonder about the French clubs’ commitment to Test rugby but don’t be too hasty about that judgment. The FFR also revealed that as part of their agreement for the July series, the French players would get a delayed start to next season’s Top 14 campaign, indicating that the clubs had given up some ground.

In this instance, the two-week quarantine period is the unprecedented element that complicates matters, but the fact that 14 Fijian players are being released from their French clubs to play the All Blacks in July indicates that they are abiding by Regulation 9, as they must.

So, the French tour will go ahead. It still has the potential to be good. But to be great the Wallabies need old mates Douglas and Higginbotham to deliver the goods for Bordeaux this weekend.

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