France lose fourth flyhalf to injury as Springboks test looms at Stade de France

Romain Ntamack became France’s fourth flyhalf casualty of the autumn when he was helped off in the 33rd minute of Les Bleus’ 54-17 victory over Fiji in Lyon on Saturday, raising serious selection concerns for Fabien Galthié ahead of a home meeting with the Springboks at Stade de France next week.

Ntamack appeared to injure his left arm after being tackled just short of the Fijian try line. With no specialist No.10 cover on the bench, scrum-half Maxime Lucu stepped in and covered the position for the remaining 47 minutes, including taking on kicking duties.

The timing is particularly damaging for France. Matthieu Jalibert and Thomas Ramos are already sidelined with thigh injuries, while Antoine Hastoy has been unavailable since suffering an ankle injury last month. That leaves Galthié with a threadbare flyhalf pool heading into a fixture against Rassie Erasmus’ reigning world champions.

The two uncapped options most likely to be called up are 22-year-old Pau back Axel Desperes and 24-year-old Castres centre Louis Le Brun. Neither has played Test rugby, making either choice a significant gamble against the world’s top-ranked side.

A large section of the French fanbase has settled on a different solution: move captain Antoine Dupont to No.10. Dupont has played flyhalf eight times at club level, most recently in 2024, but has never done so in a Test match. That has not dampened enthusiasm online, where one of the most-liked reactions to news of Ntamack’s injury read: “Dupont in 10 and Lucu in 9. Easy money.”

The logic behind the proposal leans heavily on Lucu’s kicking record. A reliable goal-kicker throughout his professional career, Lucu stepped up to kick off the tee during the Nations Championship in July and landed five conversions against Fiji. Supporters argued that pairing him at scrum-half with Dupont at fly-half would distribute the positional responsibilities between two players rather than asking one to do everything.

Debate in the comments sections focused less on whether a specialist 10 would be preferable and more on which of the two scrum-halves would be the better fit at fly-half — with some pointing to Lucu’s recent experience in the position, including during Bordeaux’s Champions Cup draw against Gloucester, as a reason to favour him over Dupont.

Whatever Galthié decides, his chosen No.10 will face an immediate and unforgiving examination against a Springbok side that has won back-to-back Rugby World Cups.