Alors que Castres n’aura que deux joueurs présents au Mondial, Toulouse sera l’équipe la plus représentée du Top 14 avec 17 éléments. En Pro D2, Agen, Colomiers et Montauban sont également concernés.
15,45. The percentage represents the (enormous) share of Stade Toulousain players selected for the World Cup (17) out of the 110 representatives from Top 14 and Pro D2 in the competition, while the second-ranked team (Toulon) only has « only » 13 players and the third-ranked team (La Rochelle) has 11 players. The majority of Stade Toulousain players are naturally concentrated in Pool A and in the French national team, with 10 players selected by Fabien Galthié.
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Except for Anthony Jelonch, who is continuing his recovery protocol after knee surgery, and Cyril Baille, who is recovering from a calf injury, all the healthy players will be present tonight at the Stade de France for the opening match against New Zealand. On the field from the kickoff (Julien Marchand, Thibaud Flament, François Cros, Antoine Dupont, Thomas Ramos) or on the bench (Peato Mauvaka, Dorian Aldegheri, Melvyn Jaminet). In Saint-Denis, they will be facing their future partner Nepo Laulala and will have the opportunity, in a month in Lyon, to meet Ange Capuozzo, the spearhead of Italy.
Retrouvailles à Marseille et Lyon
Starting this weekend, other partners wearing the « red and black » jersey will be facing each other as England, represented by Jack Willis (not in the squad), takes on Argentina, represented by Juan Cruz Mallia and Santiago Chocobares (starting players), in Marseille.
We will also find two newcomers at the international level: Pita Ahki in pool B and Richie Arnold in pool C. The New Zealand center was able to benefit from World Rugby’s relaxation of eligibility rules to represent Tonga, while the second rower also had his international debut this summer, as the Australian federation revised its selection criteria to allow « Europeans » to apply.
Also read: Rugby World Cup 2023: line-ups, schedules, broadcasters… Everything you need to know about Saturday’s matches, including the match between Italy and Namibia in the group of the French team.
On the other hand, the Castres Olympique, along with Oyonnax, will be the least represented elite team, as only two players under contract as of July 1st are part of the 20 lists of 33 (Vilimoni Botitu and Santiago Arata). The Fijian center or fly-half was called back as reinforcement yesterday, and the Uruguayan scrum-half, whose preparation was hindered by a hand injury (he had his pins removed last week in Toulouse), will try to guide the Teros, who hope to finish third in Pool A and thus directly validate their ticket for the 2027 World Cup.
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Pro D2 : Portugal, Géorgie, Namibie et Tonga pour les clubs de la région
In the Pro D2, Colomiers supporters will have the opportunity to discover two new players during the global competition with the wingers from Portugal, Vincent Pinto and Rodrigo Marta. Montauban will also have two representatives with the fly-half Tedo Abzhandadze for Georgia and the second or third row Tijuee Uanivi for Namibia, whose captain is none other than the former Colomiers player Johan Deysel. Finally, Agen will have its eyes on Tonga where the scrum-half Sonatane Takulua will be its sole flag bearer in this 10th edition.
