
Seriously injured in the knee a few weeks before the start of the World Cup, Romain Ntamack will come back even stronger, according to his father.
« I’ll be back. » It was not his simple deaths borrowed from Terminator that Romain Ntamack recorded his withdrawal from the World Cup. Victim of a ruptured cruciate ligament in his right knee during the second preparation match against Scotland, the French number 10 had just seen his dream collapse. But despite this twist of fate, the opener did not feel sorry for himself, bluffing his loved ones, who were even more devastated.
« It’s hard, it’s terrible. On Saturday evening, he told me I think it’s dead. He was already accepting while I didn’t sleep for 48 hours, said his father, Emile Ntamack, during a round table organized on the occasion of “Tomorrow sport” day. On Monday, he said to me: »That’s the crusaders, at least that’s clear. » There is a reason for this. Since the age of 17, it’s 11 months out of 12, they’re not machines… After a while, it breaks… »
He will be stronger mentally and physically
But the former Toulousain is convinced: his son will emerge stronger from this injury. “ I experienced a long injury with pubalgia, it transformed me. Looking back, it allowed me to evolve, to change positions. Romain understood this very early on. It’s a difficult passage but it has already changed. I know he’s going to be a better player than he was. He will be stronger mentally and physically,” he confided in comments relayed by L’Equipe, adding : “The defeat, the risk, the injury, we have to tell him to change the word. An injury is not a defeat, it is a learning process… necessary to become the player of tomorrow. We must quickly make this situation positive. How to understand it? What to work on? »
And Romain Ntamack will be able to take advice from his friend Antoine Dupont, victim of the same injury, at the beginning of 2018. « This injury has certainly given me a lot. I was more global in the approach to my performance. Because before, I went to the field, I trained, I left. There I explored more parameters. Since then, I have undoubtedly been more serious, more conscientious.” he told France Inter shortly before the start of the World Cup. It’s been a long time but unfortunately, these are the only moments where we can rest physically and mentally. We are at a very high pace, we play thirty matches a year, we have four weeks of vacation and we leave again. We have a rhythm that doesn’t allow us to breathe. »