France beat Fiji 54-17 as Ntamack is ruled out

France beat Fiji 54-17 in Lyon, scoring eight tries to secure a bonus-point win in the Nations Championship, but flyhalf Romain Ntamack left with a shoulder injury that coach Fabien Galthié said would rule him out for the rest of the tournament.

Ntamack went off in the first half after hurting his left shoulder as he stretched toward the try line. He had started alongside captain Antoine Dupont at halfback for the first time since March 2025. Galthié said after the match that France would not have Ntamack for the remaining Nations Championship fixtures. The player was to undergo further assessment, and no recovery timetable had been announced.

France’s next reported fixture is against South Africa on November 13. Ntamack’s absence leaves the team without one of its leading flyhalves for that match; Matthieu Jalibert was also unavailable through injury. Maxime Lucu, ordinarily a scrumhalf, replaced Ntamack and took over at flyhalf against Fiji.

France led 26-3 at halftime after Jean-Baptiste Gros scored the opening try, a penalty try followed, and Sipili Falatea and Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang also crossed. Kalvin Gourgues, Theo Attissogbe, Charles Ollivon and Dupont added...