Three matches, around 240 minutes spent on the pitch at the Stade de France, and every week, the same scene during this autumn tour. Thomas Ramos places the ball on his tea. Rushes. Type. And sends him between the poles, forcing the speaker to yell his name and update the speaker’s electronic board. Each time Friday night against Argentina, with six attempts passed for 15 points. Almost all the time in these three November outings, with 90% success against Japan, the All Blacks, and finally against the Pumas (18 successes out of 20 attempts).
Collectively, the Toulouse player played a major role in this trio of successes. Individually, he used the end of 2024 to climb the rankings as best director in the history of the Blues, moving from sixth to third place on Friday evening with 379 points. “Personal statistics reward the team,” the international modestly remarked at the microphone of TF1. This evening, if I was able to score points, it’s because we were able to score some good tries or put up a big fight to push Argentina into a mistake. »
It gives the impression of playing in slippers
He is now only ahead of Christophe Lamaison, by one unit, and above all by Frédéric Michalak, at the top of the list with 436 points. But for how long, when we see the pace of the new entrant on the podium, who became best director of his club during the last Top 14 final, highest scorer in the last two editions of the Six Nations Tournament.
If Thomas Ramos, 29, waited for this fall tour, two years after the one where he established himself as a starter for the Blues, to climb into the top three of the best French scorers, we did not need of this sequence of matches to know the exceptional player that he is. The one who gives the impression of playing in slippers, toothpick stuck in the corner of his mouth, entertaining his friends without forcing too much. Rugby looks easy when you look at it. And it’s hard to blame Fabien Galthié for placing it at the opening in November.
Comfortable both in the open and in the back
To replace Romain Ntamack, injured with Toulouse, the French coach called on the man who is precisely responsible for leaving his number 15 and his full-back position for the opening ten when the first is absent from the French champions and of Europe. Isn’t that a pure specialist? “What matters first is talent,” replied the Blues coach, when asked before the match against Japan about what made him prefer Ramos to Matthieu Jalibert. The latter had a bad experience, but the controversy of his sidelining against the All Blacks weighs almost nothing compared to what his competitor of circumstances has shown.
Against New Zealand, it was his almost blind foot pass for Louis Bielle-Biarrey who launched the supersonic winger on trial and allowed the French XV to take control of the match. Against Argentina, another stinking talent kick towards the Bordeaux player resulted in a penalty try and a yellow card for the Pumas (36th). And on these two meetings, a flawless scorer.
If we add to this this gift for, with his voice, re-motivating his partners and titillating the opponent, Thomas Ramos has definitely slipped into the category of players whose name we write straight away when we prepare a composition. At the opening, like in November. Or at the back, the position where he finished the match on Friday, where the scheduled return of Romain Ntamack during the next Six Nations Tournament should send him back after an interim period started after Jalibert’s injury against Italy at the end of February.
“I play at fullback 85 or 90% of the time,” underlined the Toulouse player. The choice on this tour was to put myself in this fly-half position because Romain was injured. From the moment I am given responsibilities, I have to assume them. These are the coach’s choices, we are here to listen to them, respect them and give everything for the team. » Truth be told, whatever the position, Ramos gets the job done. And much more than that.
