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Gregory Alldritt a doubt for France's Six Nations trip to Ireland

France could be without influential number 8 Gregory Alldritt for their Six Nations trip to Irela...



France could be without influential number 8 Gregory Alldritt for their Six Nations trip to Ireland on February 14.

The La Rochelle back-row has been ruled out of their opening match versus Italy on February 6th, with Fabien Galthie's side set to travel to Dublin just eight days later.

The FFR have not given a reason for Alldritt's absence, simply stating that the La Rochelle number 8 is unavailable, with Bordeaux Begles's Cameron Woki included in his stead.

Alldritt was one of Galthie's key performers during the team's breakthrough campaign in 2020, as they reemerged on the test scene with second place finishes in both the Six Nations and Autumn Nations Cup.

He was named official Player of the Match in three of their five games, including their win versus Ireland last October.

Alldritt also logged the second highest number of both tackles and carries throughout the Six Nations championship.

His unavailability is the latest squad shuffle Galthie has had to make this week, with Toulouse fullback Thomas Ramos also ruled out of the opening game against Italy.

Just as with Gregory Alldritt, the reason for Ramos's unavailability was not  revealed by the FFR, but Montpellier wing Vincent Rattez was called into the 37-man squad.

France are due to begin their tournament preparations next week for the opening round of the tournament, with a training camp scheduled for Nice.

Les Bleus are due to be in Dublin on Sunday February 14th, although it remains unclear if the visitors will be allowed travel, with the French government saying they required further guarantees about Covid-19 guidelines in both Ireland and England.

Deputy Minister for Sport Roxana Maracineanu made the comments on January 12th.

"For the games against Ireland and England, we must really obtain the necessary guarantees from these countries so that they show us that the protocol is as demanding and serious as the one we have in France.

"When there are international meetings we endanger, in a way, the health of these athletes.

"So we need to have the guarantees - similar to our own commitments - as means to preserve the health of athletes, and it must be the same in all countries," she said.

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2021 Six Nations France Rugby Gregory Alldritt Irish Rugby