Par Simon Galinier
Published on 9 Jul 23 at 9:02 See my news Follow News Rugby Gauthier Maravat, Arthur Vincent and Vincent Pinto, 3 U20 world champions with different trajectories. (©Icon Sports)
The team of France U20 is playing a semi-final of the world championship, this Sunday July 9 (7 p.m.) against England, with the crazy dream of achieving a fabulous hat-trick, after the titles of 2018 and 2019.
Precisely, 4 years later, what has become of the 28 Tricolores of the generation 1999-2000, who had triumphed over Australia in the final (23-24), on June 22, 2019 in Rosario (Argentina). Like the center of Montpellier Arthur Vincent, who was the captain of these Blueberries, 6 have already been selected with the great XV of France of Fabien Galthié. This is half as much as the 98-99 generation, U20 world champions in 2018, which ranks 13.
14 U20 2019 world champions are currently playing in the Top 14, but have not yet been capped in Blue, even if some are not far away. Only one has changed national team, 4 are in Pro D2, 2 are in National or National 2 and one is without a club… Overview.
They are French internationals
Jean-Baptiste Gros (Toulon; 21 selections) Arthur Vincent (Montpellier; 14 selections) Ethan Dumortier (Lyon; 5 selections) Matthis Lebel (Toulouse; 5 selections) Louis Carbonel (Montpellier; 5 selections) Killian Geraci (Lyon; 4 selections)
The 6 U20 world champions of 2019, who have already been selected with the XV of France, have all been selected under the mandate of Fabien Galthié. Among them, they are 5 to have achieved the double with the Bleuets (2018 and 2019): Gros, Geraci Carbonel, Vincent and Lebel.
Lyon winger Ethan Dumortier was the last of these calls, since he made his debut in Blue on February 5, 2023, during the victory in Italy (29-24) at the opening of the 6 Nations Tournament. , also unlocking its international meter.
He is international in another selection
Vincent Pinto (Colomiers; 13 caps with Portugal)
This is the exception. Colomiers winger (Pro D2), Vincent Pinto, who passed through Pau from 2018 to 2023, is the only ex-French U20 international who has changed sporting nationality in favor of Portugal, the country of his parents.
He celebrated his first international selection on February 5, 2022 against Georgia, then playing all the matches of the Rugby Europe Championship (6 Nations Tournament B) and even scoring 4 tries against Poland. Currently, he is part of the Portuguese pre-selection to compete in the 2023 World Cup in France (September 8-October 28).
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They play in the Top 14, but are not (yet) international
Giorgi Beria (Clermont) Paul Mallez (Toulouse) Gauthier Maravat (Castres) Florent Vanverberghe (Castres) Matthias Haddad (La Rochelle) Thibault Hamonou (Pau) Mathieu Hirigoyen (Stade Français) Sacha Zegueur (Pau) Jordan Joseph (Racing 92) Léo Coly (Montpellier) Julien Delbouis (Stade Français) Mathieu Smaïli (Toulon) Antoine Zeghdar (Castres) Donovan Taofifenua (Racing 92) Alexandre de Nardi (Montpellier)
All the ex-Bleuets U20 world champions in 2019 have not yet experienced the joys of a national selection among the big boys, but some are not far off, since they have already been called up during rallies. We think of Jordan Joseph, Julien Delbouis, Léo Coly, Sacha Zegueur or Florent Vanverberghe, who have all won in the Top 14 and have already gone back and forth to Marcoussis.
Others benefit from less playing time in the Elite, such as Giorgi Beria (Clermont) and Paul Mallez (Toulouse). The latter was the only player of this U20 generation who was not in a professional training center, since he played for the ACBD XV, an entity which allowed young players aged 15 to 18 from the Grand-Est and Bourgogne regions /Franche-Comté to play at the highest national level by benefiting from the infrastructure of the Pôle Espoir Academy in Dijon (Côte-d’Or). For his part, rear-winger Alexandre de Nardi will discover the Top 14 next season, since he joined Montpellier this summer, after 5 seasons of Pro D2 at Mont-de-Marsan, his training club.
They play in Pro D2
Alex Burin (Agen) Eli Eglaine (Grenoble) Quentin Delord (Rouen) Rayne Barka (Soyaux-Angoulême)
All the ex-Bleuets 2019 did not have the chance to break into the Top 14 or at the international level, since 4 of them had to bounce back in Pro D2, an excellent school to acquire playing time and experience. Like the pillars of Agen and Grenoble Alex Burin and Eli Eglaine, who are forged in the muscular games of the Pro D2, or the scrum half Quentin Delord, who signed up this summer in Rouen, after 2 seasons in Montauban.
They are in National and National 2
Théo Lachaud (Hyères/Carqueiranne/La Crau, National) Loïc Hocquet (Valence d’Agen, National 2)
Two former U20 internationals have chosen to end their professional careers. The hooker born and trained in Toulon Théo Lachaud returned this summer to the Var by signing with RC Hyères / Carqueiranne / La Crau (National), after 2 seasons of Pro D2 in Aurillac. While the third line Loïc Hocquet returned to his training club, Valence d’Agen, with whom he experienced a rise in National 2 this season, and is continuing in parallel training to become an energy diagnostician.
France U20: the 2019 world champion group
Avants : Barka, Beria, Burin, Eglaine, Geraci, Gros, Haddad, Hamonou, Hirigoyen, Hocquet, Joseph, Lachaud, Mallez, Maravat, Vanverberghe, Zegueur
Three-quarters: Carbonel, Coly, De Nardi, Delbouis, Delord, Dumortier, Lebel, Pinto, Smaili, D.Taofifenua, Vincent, Zeghdar
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