Romain Ntamack Injury Casts Doubt on France's Six Nations Opener vs Ireland

France may be without outhalf Romain Ntamack for their Six Nations opener against Ireland on Thursday, February 5th. According to reports in France, the 26-year-old suffered an injury while playing for his club, Toulouse, in the Top 14 last month. Ntamack played the full 80 minutes in Toulouse’s 60-14 win over Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle on December 28th, but was replaced at 10 by Kalvin Gourgues for their 30-27 defeat away to Perpignan a week later and did not feature on the bench. Ntamack, capped 43 times for his country, has been a central figure in Fabien Galthié’s French team but looks likely to be out until their second-round clash against Wales in Cardiff, missing Ireland’s trip to the Stade de France the week prior. In last year’s Six Nations, Ntamack was Galthié’s first-choice 10, starting in three of their five games. He was ruled out for France’s second and third round fixtures against England and Scotland after picking up a red card in their opening win over Wales, but returned to the starting fold for Les Bleus’ 42-27 win in Dublin and their Super Saturday victory over Scotland which clinched the title.