The exact moment that ruled Romain Ntamack out of the World Cup
One of the cruellest realities of sport is that injuries occur, and they often occur at the worst times possible. But what must be even more galling for France flyhalf Romain Ntamack after he was ruled out of the World Cup, was that his injury came in what looked to be the most harmless fashion possible.
The 24-year-old was just making a rudimentary tackle on opposite man Finn Russell on Saturday at the Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium in Saint-Etienne when injury struck.
There was not a dangerous collision, an awkward fall or even a contortion of his leg, but the France star is now not only going to miss a home World Cup, but a large chunk of the upcoming season after rupturing his ACL.
You can watch the moment he picked up the injury on loop and it is hard to decipher the exact moment it occurred such is the innocuous nature of it. That must be what makes it all the more unbearable for the Toulouse man as he is now set to watch Les Bleus from the sidelines.
Take a look at the moment Ntamack picked up the injury:
How Ntamack's knee injury happened.
Looked like such a simple collision. Rugby can be very cruel sometimes. pic.twitter.com/zByVweH68G
— EK Rugby Analysis (@ek_rugby) August 14, 2023
With the likes of Bordeaux Begles’ Matthieu Jalibert in the squad, France have a more than capable replacement for Ntamack, but this is nevertheless a huge blow for Fabien Galthie and his World Cup plans. Ntamack has formed a pivotal halfback partnership with Antoine Dupont for both Toulouse and France in recent years, and this is bound to affect France as they enter their home World Cup.
With prop Cyril Baille also picking up an injury that will rule him out for five to six weeks, Galthie will just be hoping to come through the final two warm-up matches against Fiji and Australia unscathed before opening their World Cup campaign against the All Blacks.
