France coach Fabien Galthie is scrambling for a flyhalf solution after Romain Ntamack joined Matthieu Jalibert, Antoine Hastoy and Thomas Ramos on the injury list, leaving Les Bleus without their top four options at No.10 ahead of next Friday's Test against South Africa at the Stade de France.
Ntamack had been making his long-awaited return from injury when he hurt his shoulder stretching for the line during France's 54-17 Nations Championship win over Fiji in Lyon on Saturday. He lasted just over 30 minutes.
"We have a French team without its first choice, without its second choice, without its third choice, without its fourth choice," Galthie told TF1. "I won't go into the details, but I think that's the competition over for him. He has a pretty serious shoulder injury."
Scrumhalf Maxime Lucu stepped into the No.10 role after Ntamack departed, a position he has filled previously for Bordeaux-Bèglesl. Galthie was candid about Lucu's status, describing him as "a scrumhalf who plays at number 10 for his club" and crediting the arrangement for enabling a six-two bench split. Lucu, for his part, said he would play wherever required.
Galthie also flagged Axel Desperes, a young flyhalf from Pau currently training with the squad, as another option. "We'll work on it, we'll try to find a solution at flyhalf," he said.
Despite the personnel concerns, France took maximum points from the Fiji fixture and lead the northern hemisphere Nations Championship standings by two points from Ireland, putting them in strong contention to reach the final. Galthie acknowledged the win, albeit an error-prone one, served its purpose as preparation. "It's a good preparation match for six days' time," he said.
Fiji coach Jake White, whose side remain bottom of the southern hemisphere table after four straight defeats, identified maul defence as a key development area ahead of the 2027 World Cup. On France's prospects against the Springboks, he pointed to home advantage as a significant factor. "When they play in the Stade de France against South Africa, it will be even bigger, even more noise," he said. "It's going to be a good Test match."