Thibaud Flament will miss France’s Six Nations opener against Ireland as his wife is having fertility treatment.
France coach Fabien Galthie named Flament in his 42-man squad for the championship earlier this week but had said the lock would be unavailable for the tournament curtain-raiser against Andy Farrell’s Ireland in Paris on 5 February due to “personal reasons”.
However, Flament has now detailed the exact reason he will miss the clash in a candid interview, explaining that he and his wife Ethel – who suffers from endometriosis – had begun fertility treatment at the end of last year and he legally has to be by her side for the appointment in the week of the Six Nations opener.
In the interview with L’Equipe, the 28-year-old said: “Ethel, my wife, has endometriosis, like many women today. As a result, the issue of infertility is a real concern for her.
“We got married this summer with the desire to start a family. We began undergoing medical tests, meeting with specialists… Very quickly, we realised that having a child wasn’t necessarily going to be easy.
“We understood that we would have to undergo ART [assisted reproduction]. We had a bit of a struggle. Our application was accepted in November, and we were supposed to start the procedure in December.”
Flament went on to explain that the couple learned in early January that the procedure falls the same week as the Ireland match and it wouldn’t be possible for him to do both, although they had no hesitation in making their decision.
“You can’t control the date. The timing is based on the menstrual cycle of women, with a whole protocol around it,” he added. “Postponing the ART procedure would have involved more risks and stress, so it wasn’t consistent with our desire to have a child.
“We couldn’t say we wanted a child, go through ART, but then have me prepare for the match, but maybe not play the match itself, constantly travelling back and forth, only to be called up at the last minute. It just can’t work. One must take responsibility.
“We considered whether or not to speak out, whether to expose our private life. Initially, my stance was not to talk about it, not to expose us. After reflection, we prefer to tell the truth, rather than have people try to find it out for us. The subject isn’t taboo and it’s part of our lives. This illness affects many people and is often diagnosed late. The illness affects the couple, not just the woman.”
Flament hopes to return for the round two match against Wales on 15 February, although was unable to guarantee his availability, with Hugo Auradou likely to replace him when Galthie names his team for the opening Stade de France clash. Paul Boudehent, Mickael Guillard, Emmanuel Meafou, Charles Ollivon and Cameron Woki are the other second-row options in the squad.
Flament played against Italy, Ireland and Scotland in last year’s Championship as Les Bleus secured the title, their first since 2022 and just their second since 2010.
