Six Nations Tournament: the reasons for François Cros’ return to Toulouse
Like 13 other of his partners, the flanker was made available to his club for the weekend. A logical choice given its lack of rhythm.
A little less than a year ago, François Cros was part of the starting team which, on this evening of March 2022, beat England (25-13) and offered the XV of France the 10th Grand Slam in its history. . Since then, things have become somewhat complicated for the third international line (16 selections). Injured in the left knee during the disputed play-off against La Rochelle in June, victim of a relapse during the reception of Toulon at the beginning of September, François Cros took his trouble patiently and only made his return to competition last week, against Munster, where he entered the field on the hour mark.
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Labit: “We will have an eye on him”
If usually, no player from the so-called “premium” French team is left available to clubs in the middle of the week, François Cros was one of the 14 players released by Fabien Galthié and his staff on Wednesday evening. “It was important for us that he had playing time with his team in the league, explains the attacking coach of the XV of France, Laurent Labit. The rule of energy is, for us, fundamental. It is linked to our game and the physique of the players. The constant changes in our league do not train players for international matches where they must potentially be able to play 80 minutes. “It must be said that at the dawn of the 2023 Tournament, the third wing line does not have half an hour in the legs. “If, already, on these very demanding positions a player only has 23 minutes in his legs, we take a risk at the start, recalls Laurent Labit. We therefore judged that François needed playing time and we will have an eye on him as on each released player. »