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France No.10 Romain Ntamack has been ruled out of the Rugby World Cup because of a knee injury, robbing the tournament of one of its star players.
The 24-year-old Ntamack ruptured cruciate ligaments in his left knee in the second half of the 30-27 victory over Scotland in a World Cup warm-up on Saturday, the team said following scans.
Matthieu Jalibert is set to fill in as Ntamack’s understudy when the tournament begins in France on September 8.
“Romain, we are thinking of you a lot,” the French rugby federation posted on Twitter.
“The whole group is supporting you. We wish you a good recovery.”
In his own post, Ntamack wrote: “I’ll be back.”
The exciting halfback partnership between Ntamack and scrumhalf Antoine Dupont has been one of the key reasons behind France’s improvement under coach Fabien Galthié since the last World Cup in 2019.
France, which has never won the World Cup, is one of the favourites.
Prop Cyril Baille could also miss the tournament after sustaining a calf injury against Scotland that will keep him out for up to six weeks.
Ntamack featured in every minute of the side’s 2022 Six Nations Grand Slam victory.
“It is absolutely devastating, especially when you are one of the home players, you have the opportunity to play at home and you are one of the favourites to win it,” former England international Ugo Moyne told the Rugby Union Weekly podcast on the BBC.
His father Emile, who played at the 1995 and 1999 World Cups, said: “It will take a little time to digest.
“We are still a little in shock, even if he felt it coming since his injury.
“We were hoping for a pleasant surprise this morning (Monday) but we weren’t under too many illusions. It didn’t feel right. He had already taken blows to the knee and he felt it wasn’t as usual.”
French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera posted on Twitter that the national side would miss Ntamack’s “flair”.
“There’s no doubt you’ll be close by and that this dream belongs to you as well,” she wrote.
England have also suffered a setback with No.9 Jack van Poortvliet to miss the World Cup to undergo surgery on an ankle injury sustained against Wales.
The 22-year-old Leicester back was forced off in the first half of the 19-17 Twickenham win and has been replaced in Steve Borthwick’s 33-man World Cup squad by Northampton’s Alex Mitchell.
England head coach Steve Borthwick said: “It’s really bad luck for Jack and we send him our very best wishes for a swift and successful recovery.”
Mitchell joins Ben Youngs and Danny Care as Borthwick’s scrum-half options for the World Cup in France next month.
The 26-year-old was unfortunate to miss out on the original squad after making four impactful replacement appearances during the 2023 Six Nations Championship, injecting energy and tempo into England’s play.
England continue their World Cup build-up against Ireland at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
England are also waiting anxiously on a judiciary hearing that is likely to cost Owen Farrell a chunk a of the tournament following a red card against Wales last weekend.
Springboks skipper Siya Kolisi could be set for a Test comeback 113 days after knee surgery when the team faces wales this weekend.
On Monday, during an online press briefing from the team’s base in Cardiff, assistant coach Dean Human talked up Kolisi’s chances.
“Last week, Siya trained with us fully. Naturally, players don’t just come back and play 80 minutes from the get-go,” said Human.
“I think Siya is in a very good place. He is taking contact and he scrummed with us as well. He has given us everything, which we expect. In my department, I am very happy with what I’ve seen. Hopefully, he can put in a good shift, whether that is this weekend or next weekend, because we don’t know when he is going to be let loose.
“I just think that he is one of the dogs you want in the fight, whenever he does get set loose.”
© AAP
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