The Fijians have looked really good so far in 2023 and they could well give this fringe side a real run for their money. As such, we could well be in for a cracker of a warm-up game.
France v Fiji
Saturday 19 August
Stade de la Beaujoire
France 1/16 | Draw 33/1 | Fiji 13/2
Le Bleu saw their World Cup hopes given a massive dent this past week with Toulouse’s star fly-half Romain Ntamack suffering an ACL injury against Scotland that has ruled him out of the World Cup. The young gun will be sorely missed as his and scrum-half Antoine Dupont’s ability and telepathic like understanding in the halves gave the French a real edge coming into the tournament.
To compound matters for Le Blue, veteran prop Cyrill Baille also sustained an injury that will rule him out of the first few weeks of the tournament.
The good news for the French is that they have one of the deepest squads in the world and they have some handy understudies who can fill in for Ntamack including La Rochelle’s Antoine Hastoy and Bordeaux’s Matthieu Jalibert. I suspect the latter will have the inside line on the ten jersey which could mean Hastory gets the start this weekend as France still have a clash against Australian the following weekend.
Should Hastoy start, he will need to be on his game as this Fijian side are vastly improved and will be looking to make a statement with the World Cup looming large.
The islanders head into the World Cup having won the Pacific Nations Cup. They were by far and away the best side in that competition as they cantered to comfortable wins over Japan, Samoa and Tonga. And while France is a big step up in opposition, the Fijians will relish the challenge.
France looked slightly nervous in last weekend’s three-point win over the ‘Scots and I expect they’ll grab another narrow win here. As such, my money is on the Fijians staying within what is a big handicap.
Fiji on the plus.
