A war of words has erupted between France and Ireland ahead of the title-deciding weekend of the Six Nations, with French fly-half Romain Ntamack hitting out at the “injustice” of Garry Ringrose’s suspension while Irish prop Andrew Porter criticised Fabien Galthié for comments surrounding Antoine Dupont’s injury.
Ntamack returned from a two-match suspension to lead France to a famous 42-27 victory in Dublin last weekend, having sat out the defeat against England and the victory over Italy following a red card in the win against Wales.
On the other hand, Ireland’s Ringrose only missed the France defeat last weekend, as the ruling around his suspension for a similar offence against Wales took into account a Leinster match during the second fallow week – something that was not afforded to Ntamack.
With neither player realistically expected to play for their club during the Six Nations, Ntamack has hit out a the “totally incomprehensible” decision.
“There is an injustice here, because I believe our case was also based around how one of the matches in my suspension I would play for Toulouse,” Ntamack said.
“And when 10 days later the complete opposite [for Ringrose] is decided in contrast to what the commission told me, that is in every shape and form totally incomprehensible.
“I think we must start pounding our fist on the table because it is time these decisions going against us and costing us dearly stop.”
Ntamack was speaking ahead of Saturday’s finale against Scotland in Paris. France know a bonus-point victory will guarantee them this year’s championship.
However, Les Bleus will need to do so without captain Dupont, who suffered a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament after being cleared out of a ruck by Irish forwards Tadhg Beirne and Andrew Porter.
“I have my opinion on that and I will keep it to myself,” Ntamack said of Dupont’s injury. “It is always upsetting when a player is injured in such an incident. It is never very clear in this type of situation.
“There will be a debate around rucks forever. I think, though, it is imperative that we all sit around a table and clarify it a little.”
While Ntamack refused to criticise the Irish forwards for their part in the clear-out that injured Dupont, French head coach Galthié let rip on Beirne and Porter, labelling the incident “reprehensible” and referring both to the citing commissioned – with both subsequently cleared.
Porter has now hit back at Galthié, insisting there was “no malicious intent”.
“He can say what he wants, see how far it gets him,” Porter said of Galthié. “No, I wasn’t disappointed. I knew what I did; I didn’t go out to try and injure anyone. That’s not the type of player I am. If he [Galthié] wants to think that, that is up to him.
“I even sent Antoine a message on Instagram just to see how he was and obviously you never want to see anyone going off the pitch like that. If you have the head coach calling for your head, it’s a bit much to be fair.
“But he is such a pivotal player for them that they nearly don’t want him to be touched at all. Look, he is entitled to his opinion, but I know I haven’t done anything wrong there. I sleep well at night.
“His [Dupont’s] leg got trapped in between a ruck when he was trying to counter it and he obviously just got trapped and went over,” Porter added. “It happens so much in this sport. There was no malicious intent surrounding it at all. It’s obviously unfortunate and unlucky.”
