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Watch: The Wilkinson-like performance from Toulon's young French flyhalf that could put him on the Australian tour
By Sam Smith
Toulon’s young flyhalf Louis Carbonel has been capped already by the national side, but given the depth that France has at 10 it has been hard to displace the pecking order.
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The 22-year-old Carbonel has won two under-20 World Championships and displaced the highly-rated Anthony Belleau as the starter at Toulon but the French national team has some serious talent in front of him.
Toulouse’s Romain Ntamack has become the first-choice option for France despite playing regularly at 12 for his club in the Top 14 and debuting at centre, while Bordeaux’s Matthieu Jalibert has also impressed for the national side.
Carbonel’s latest performance against his rival Jalibert at Bordeaux may help his case, as he put in a performance worthy of another former Toulon flyhalf – Jonny Wilkinson, by kicking at 100 percent in a man-of-the-match performance.
Monsieur 💯 %
📲 Vous avez élu @LouisCarbonel, Toulonnais du match sur l'application du RCT.#RCTUBB pic.twitter.com/v2Pz8pNKTN
— RCT – RC Toulon (@RCTofficiel) May 29, 2021
Faudra qu'on reparle du match de @LouisCarbonel quand même.
T'as bien regardé @FGalthie ? 🙂— Aurélien Maestracci (@aurelien_) May 29, 2021
It was from the tee that the Toulon 10 took down his opposition, despite falling behind early to a 11-3 deficit, Carbonel kicked seven from seven goals to propel Toulon to a 25-19 win.
Carbonel clawed back the deficit with three first half penalties, before building a lead that Bordeaux could not overcome in the second half with three more and one conversion.
His ace goal kicking was complimented by sniping runs, challenging the Bordeaux’s defence and setting up a handful of breaks for his side.
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The win reversed a two-match losing streak against UBB and closed the gap between the 6th-placed Toulon and the 4th-placed Bordeaux on the Top 14 ladder.
With France set to tour Australia next month, head coach Fabien Galthie has indicated that the Top 14 finalists won’t travel, giving other players a chance to show their wares.
He wants to take two full teams, which could give the likes of Carbonel a chance to start Down Under.
