Lions' Russell update: 'Probably sick of me asking how his leg is'

A few RCs. 80+ win rate. And then the 2027 RWC.

He was also the man who at great expense bought Benji Marshall to be number 10 at the Blues so you would have to say he had previous form.

Firstly if you knew a bit of Galthié, he is not the type of coach who is going to ask advice to his players and even his captain about team selection. He is as stubborn as you...

Second Ramos has played a lot of times as 10 with Toulouse and therefore Dupont (in particular when Ntamack is injured and unfortunately it has often happened recently and for long periods). He even played 10 during the last 3 games of the 2024 6N and this was far better performance than the first two games with Jalibert as 10.

Thirdly Jalibert lacked of respect to a La Rochelle player so your theory is once again out.

Fourth as I explained to you Galthié went for a 6-2 bench and Jalibert can only play 10 which doesn't fit that plan. Furthermore as 15 Buros is better under high balls than Ramos and everybody is prepared for a tactical kicking game.

So you can blame Galthié for a lot of things (as you clearly enjoy doing at the end of your post and you should be very happy as an AB fan) but certainly not Dupont. Sorry once more for your conspiracy theory.

And don't worry about potential disharmony in the French team; they are excellent mates around their captain. Jalibert is well known in the French rugby circles to have not a strong character (and we saw that in the WC quarter finals as he is very nervous in any decisive international game unlike Ntamack and Ramos as for his late penalty kick vs England this year).

In conclusion enjoy the game tmrw night. It is good that the ABs are very upset; we should watch a great game of rugby. I hope for running rugby and not too much kicking. With 5 key players injured on our side (Ntamack, Baille, Atonio, Cros and Penaud) and 2 on your side I and various French fans see you as favourites. I obviously hope for another result.

If you are interested you can read a good article in the Guardian on the subject of France-NZ games.

William Henley wrote a poem called Invictus

It starts

Out of the night that covers me BLACK ( All Blacks ) as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever GODS maybe for my unconquerable Soul ...( Olan says INVICTUS is an evil Malevolent entity who corrupted the Titans ... this is Mandelas double meaning speech ( hes a fraud ) - of thanks for helping overcome SA's adversary NZ - There is only ONE true God Yahuah - Only a false god would be complicit in Cheating Corruption and Harming others to win a RWC for a sick and sinful Nation ) the poem ends with

I am the CAPTAIN of my soul

SA will forever bear the stain of guilt and disgrace over their involvement in poisoning the ABs a day before the 95 RWC Final

This is a terrible, massive insult to a 10 and I'm sure Dupont would also be very enraged if benched for a player that doesn't even play halfback.

A good captain would've insisted to the coach that it was an idea of madness and either select Jalibert or replace him with another 10 if you want him to be reserve.

Jalibert may not be the world's finest tacklers but that's often not a tens main strength that the loose forwards and second five cover. An intercept pass is never great but they happen.

When any player is playing for his club then it's club first, respect doesn't need to be shown to opposition players simply because they're internationals.

Who exactly are you claiming Jalibert hasn't respected? If it's Toulouse international players then it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this bench demotion out.

The outcome of selecting Jalibert to the bench and he then throwing his croissants out the window of the team bus immediately prior to playing the Allblacks is a disaster that will be team disharmony as any team mates of Jalibert are in a state of anger and revolt so a performance that will be sub optimal against a team that is thirsting for revenge against France.

I don't know about you but the Allblacks are very upset they've lost twice in a row to France and want to put out a statement performance so this preparation by Galthie of creating havoc looks to me like a coach that is clueless.

Let’s just focus on England getting pumped tomorrow.

Always coming off 2nd best is a hard pill to swallow. Just as they think they finally took over, that the NH is the Kings of rugby, they found out the hard way that it was all just day dreaming.

9/10 WC trophies for the SH vs 1/10 for the SH. What makes it worse is that they SHOULD be on top considering how close and how many countries in Europe plays rugby. It's just across the road for them compared to the SH that have to travel very far to play against each other, nevermind the NH.

The logistics counts against the teams, which means teams have to leave earlier and stay longer in another country to acclimate. That means the cost for the Rugby Unions go up compared to the NH. Yet, they can't crack the SH. No matter how hard they try.

I'm not surprised they are so hateful and jealous towards the SH.