France may finally get their act together after five years in the trophy wilderness
Wins over Fiji and Australia – with Scott Spedding and Rory Kockott in top form – hinted at a new French dawn during the November internationals. French rugby supporters are rarely optimistic for too long and so it once again proved when Argentina clipped their wings with a 18-13 win in Paris.
Still, Philippe Saint-André is confident his team can build the November Tests and challenge for the 2015 Six Nations. One weapon the head coach may add to his attacking arsenal is Castres winger Rémy Grosso.
The 26-year-old, formerly of Lyon, delivered a Top 14 performance, against La Rochelle on Saturday, that echoed Jonah Lomu’s bosh-filled World Cup 1995 outings. Leinster will be wary of Grosso’s attacking threat when they meet Castres at the RDS in two weeks’ time.
Grosso brought out some disdainful fend-offs, superb offloads and did not allow minor matters such as tacklers to slow him down. Check out this great footage, with thanks to The Rugby Blog, of a two-try, one assist performance that has sprung Grosso up the queue for a Test debut.
Elsewhere in the Top 14, it appears likely that Steffon Armitage, Toulon’s very own wrecking ball, could yet play for England at the World Cup.
Armitage looked set for a Premiership switch in order to play this year’s Six Nations but a suitable deal with Bath could not be worked out in time. The English Rugby Union are now considering a u-shaped bend in their rules to accommodate the 2013/14 European Player of the Year.
The Times reports that Stuart Lancaster will be able to name him ‘under exceptional circumstances’ to a training squad in May before an extended squad reconvenes in late July ahead of the World Cup.
