French flair is back as Les Bleus sniff maiden World Cup title

PARIS: France will sorely miss match-winning flyhalf Romain Ntamack but having rediscovered their legendary flair, they have everything it takes to triumph and lift their first World Cup on home soil.

Ntamack sustained a knee injury in the Scotland warm-up test victory this month and will be replaced by Mathieu Jalibert, who proved in a 41-17 hammering of Australia that he was more than a default starter alongside mercurial scrumhalf Antoine Dupont.

Since Fabien Galthie took over after a mediocre 2019 World Cup, France have won their first Six Nations - and Grand Slam - since 2010 and not finished outside the top two while maturing into a clinical counter-attacking side.

Les Bleus have the ability to punish their opponents for every single mistake and, despite some concentration lapses, have developed an awe-inspiring winning mentality with a French record 14 tests victories in a row.

The famous 'French flair', which culminated in a 1999 semi-final against New Zealand before slowly dying sown at the start of the century, has been resurrected in Galthie's team, who can create brilliance from apparently chaotic situations.

Galthie, however, has a surgical approach to the game and to preparation, leaving no stone unturned - meaning Ntamack's absence looks like a small hiccup as France prepare for a potentially explosive curtain-raiser against New Zealand.

"To me, the Big Three of this World Cup is France, South Africa and Ireland," said former France flanker Olivier Magne.

"When I see what France did against Australia for 80 minutes, the players' determination, this opening game could be tough for the All Blacks," he added referring to Les Bleus' 47-17 victory on Sunday.

The result of the Sept. 8 clash with New Zealand is likely