XV of France: “We must stop pointing the finger at poor Jalibert and Lucu”, Mignoni defends the hinge

“We have to stop pointing the finger” at the hinge of the French XV, damaged during the first two days of the Six Nations Tournament, launched Toulon manager Pierre Mignoni in an interview with AFP.

“I don’t think it’s the hinge’s fault. Against Ireland, we saw a French team which was not ready, not like the Irish who were ready and it was seen straight away. France has been caught in all sectors,” assured Mignoni to AFP.

“We must stop pointing the finger at poor Matthieu Jalibert and Maxime Lucu. It's always easy, I've known it too, as soon as the team lost it was the hinge's fault. The hinge has a lot of responsibilities for the game, but the whole team has a lot of responsibilities for the fight and the things to do,” continued the former international scrum half (28 caps between 1997 and 2007).

In the absence of Antoine Dupont, focused on preparing for the rugby sevens events of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, and Romain Ntamack, victim of a ruptured cruciate ligament in his left knee in August, the Blues are relying in the Six Nations Tournament on the hinge of Bordeaux-Bègles, formed by Matthieu Jalibert at the opening and Maxime Lucu at the scrum.

During the rout against Ireland (38-17), as during the success against Scotland (20-16), the two Girondin players did not convince.

After a week of rest, Lucu and Jalibert will have the opportunity to make up for it against Italy on February 25 in Lille, during the 3rd day of the Tournament.

Former player of Clermont or Béziers in particular, Mignoni (46 years old) notably won the Tournament in 2002 and 2007.

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