Léo Barré and Nolann Le Garrec are the leading lights of a new generation that allows Les Bleus to look ahead with optimism
“Maybe we recover a bit quicker than the older players,” France’s Léo Barré playfully pointed out in the buildup to their Six Nations finale against England. The versatile Stade Français back had been one of several newcomers to inspire a sorely-needed win over Wales in the penultimate round that had finally lifted Les Bleus up from their post-World Cup slump. The team’s director of performance, Nicolas Jeanjean, was more definitive in his praise of the debutants: “They bring along their mental insouciance and their physical energy, we can see that in the data but also subjectively”.
It’s precisely that insouciance which has characterised the way Nolann Le Garrec has (temporarily) made the No 9 shirt his own – not least in his 35-metre reverse pass at the Principality Stadium. The Breton may not hail from the country’s south-western rugby heartlands, but that chistera – a term borrowed from the basket-shaped glove used in Basque pelota – channelled decades’ worth of French flair.
