The French public had to wait 609 days to see again the most-utilized half-back pairing in the history of the French team, after long months punctuated by injuries, sometimes for Antoine Dupont, sometimes for the Toulouse fly-half.
His substitution, at the 34th minute, of the No. 10 of the tricolors, his face tightened with pain and his left arm in a sling inside his jersey — a “probable dislocation” according to Fabien Galthié — suggests that the next appearance of the cursed duo, which has been plagued of late, will not be during this November window.
Granted, the French did win. Not with outrageous brilliance, but they did win, took a logical bonus point and sit atop the Northern Hemisphere standings with 17 points after the fourth round of this Nations Championship, as fresh as a Lyon evening.
Catastrophe
But autumn 2026 is not really one of those seasons when you watch one of the squad’s pillars depart and think the pool will replace him without issue.
The usual fallback at fly-half, Matthieu Jalibert, is already on the shelf, hit in the quadriceps, and will not be back by the finals weekend at the end of November, and another potential starter, Thomas Ramos, is also unavailable, injured in the thigh.
Not to mention the other absences, with a Flament-Meafou second row in the infirmary or the absence of center Fabien Brau-Boirie.
Nevertheless, someone will have to be found to run the French game next week against the formidable Springboks, double world champions and chief tormentors of the Blues.
While awaiting to know which half-back pairing will face South Africa, there were fortunately not only bad news in Lyon on Saturday.
Sometimes a little rough around the edges, the French did not tremble to dominate the “Flying Fijians” less unpredictable than their reputation and the abundance of talent on display suggested.
Thanks to a serious set-piece, notably a dominant scrum pack, the France XV managed to erase from minds the many blemishes of the early part of the game.
Shaken by Fijians’ tackles as hard as plane trees, the Blues were awakened by an impressive charge from Yoram Moefana that brought Vilimoni Botitu down, who certainly is not the last when it comes to moving people.
Continuing, the left prop Jean-Baptiste Gros squeezed his way to the in-goal in a sophisticated blend of finesse and power (5-0, 15th).
Focused on a line-out, the Tricolors forced the Fijians into a fault, obliged to concede a penalty try (12-0, 22nd), accompanied by a yellow card for Nasilasila.
Finale Frenzy
Despite a few hesitations, the evening seemed well underway, especially after a lovely break by Romain Ntamack allowed Sipili Falatea to add a try (19-3, 33rd).
But the growing smile on the Blues’ faces turned into a grimace when they saw their fly-half go to ground.
Forced to leave, Ntamack, who on Saturday equaled his father Emile’s 46 caps, was replaced by Maxime Lucu, who moved to fly-half and also filled in as the kicker.
Against exhausted Fijians, the teammates of an available and effective but silent Louis Bielle-Biarrey then found more space.
Aaron Grandidier, opportunistic (36th), and Kalvin Gourgues, at the finish of a pretty first-phase move for his first start in blue (59th), widened the gap.
An opening by Dupont and a strong relay by Bielle-Biarrey allowed Théo Attissogbe to register a 13th try for his 14th cap, then Charles Ollivon powerfully (73rd) and Antoine Dupont, in a crafty move, had completed the sequence.
