The 42 players summoned by the staff of the Blues to prepare for the World Cup are not guaranteed to play in the four scheduled preparation matches, explained Tuesday the coach in charge of the attack of the XV of France Laurent Labit.
“We had already done that in 2019, it was a bit shocking but the forty-two players are not guaranteed to play. It is the players who come to pick up the jersey. Even in preparation for the World Cup, the rule is the same. We regularly made points with the players who seem to us a little inside, whether on rugby, the physique or the energy they bring… The players who will be called to play will be players who will have come to get the jersey, “explained Labit.
The Blues will face Scotland twice, then Fiji and Australia, before the start of the 2023 World Cup (September 8-October 28) and the opening match at the top against the legendary All Blacks.
“When we know that something is acquired, we tend to rest, we do not pull the team up. We have players who come with a lot of appetite, some don’t have a selection, they want to play but, as I said, they have to come and get their selection. It will be necessary to be at the level to be in the thirty-three “players summoned for the World Cup, continued Labit.
Among the 42 Blues called up to Marcoussis until August 3, only third row Paul Boudehent (La Rochelle, 23), winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey (Bordeaux-Bègles, 20) and center Emilien Gailleton (Pau, 20) have not yet worn the jersey of the XV of France.
The list of 42 players will be reduced to 33 on August 21, after the third warm-up match, against Fiji in Nantes.