It was in the 71st minute of a game that was clearly favoring one side: Against a frail Welsh team, Les Bleus had yet to concede a single point on Friday, January 31, at the Stade de France during the opening match of the 2025 Six Nations Tournament when Romain Ntamack broke his team’s commendable discipline record – which included just 3 penalties – by receiving a red card. At the session held by the independent Six Nations Tournament Disciplinary Committee on Wednesday morning, he was subsequently given a three-week suspension. This means he will miss the match against England in Twickenham on Saturday, known as Le Crunch, but he will return to play against Italy in Rome on February 23.
Towards the end of the match, Ntamack collided with the face of his Welsh opponent Ben Thomas using his shoulder. New Zealand referee Paul Williams first issued a yellow card, penalizing him for “an act of unfair play contrary to rule 9.13” as per World Rugby’s regulations: “A player must not tackle an opponent early, late or dangerously.” A few moments later, following a review of the video footage, the penalty was upgraded to a red card by the “bunker” for “characterized endangerment.”
After the game, French captain Antoine Dupont expressed his support for his teammate during a press conference, emphasizing that “this is out of character for him and cost him significantly.” At just 25 years old and with 38 caps, Ntamack had never been shown a red card before. He faced a potential suspension ranging from two to 12 weeks. Considering his clean record, Ntamack might have anticipated a lighter punishment, although former Welsh captain Sam Warburton (2011-2017) argued to the British daily The Telegraph that Ntamack acted out of revenge for a prior incident.
In his absence, Matthieu Jalibert could find himself back in the starting lineup for Les Bleus, based on preliminary reports from coach Fabien Galthié.
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