JAMES HARRINGTON
FRENCH COLUMN

Opportunity: Maxime Lucu steps up for France in today’s match against Japan
PICTURE: Getty Images

When an international side has a world-beating player, the worry often is that whoever follows is a huge drop-off in talent. There aren’t many who could hope to match the sheer ability of Antoine Dupont – nominated for World Player of the Year for a second year in a row. France are blessed to have him.
But they’re also not shy of quality nines when he’s not there, which he won’t be for today’s match against Japan in Toulouse, following his red card against S...