Gazeta Lodz - France giant Meafou capable of being 'world's best' lock

Meafou put in a man-of-the-match performance in France's 33-8 Six Nations victory over Italy on Sunday, scoring his first try in his 14th appearance for Les Bleus.

And he did it in his first start for France in this season's tournament, having been overlooked for the two previous matches in favour of rising star Mickael Guillard.

"When he wants to, Manny can be the best second row in the world, and I think he's doing what he needs to live up to that and play the way he did tonight," Ramos said after Sunday's victory, which kept France on course for the Grand Slam.

"He's a serious guy who works hard, who knows his qualities and, tonight, he showed them for 80 minutes.

"For a number five, it's rare to last that long!"

At six foot eight inches and 145-kilogrammes, Meafou is built for power, not for duration.

But France head coach Fabien Galthie needed him against a powerful Italy pack that had dominated Scotland's forwards and impressed against Ireland.

Galthie abandoned his experiment of using Charles Ollivon and Guillard in the engine room -- both players are more used to operating as loose forwards -- and played Meafou alongside Thibaud Flament against Italy, preferring their size and bulk over the other two's mobility.

It worked wonders, despite France giving away a few penalties in the scrum.

Meafou recognised he had just put in one of his best performances in the French jersey.

"I'm very happy. After that, even if I had won 100 caps with the French team and not scored a single try, the most important things are the team's victories and wearing this jersey," he said.

"I'm going to sleep well!"

Meafou needed to put in an impressive performance if he wants to win back his place long term from Guillard, who was man-of-the-match in France's 36-14 victory over Ireland two weeks earlier.

"I told myself that I had to give everything to earn my place," said Meafou, acknowledging that Guillard "is playing very well".

- Too late for Australia -

Meafou's journey to becoming a France international is an uplifting one.

Born in New Zealand to Samoan parents, he was brought up in Australia, where he initially played rugby league before switching to union aged 16.

But aged 20, he almost packed in rugby to try his hand at the NFL International Player Pathway programme.

Despite spending some time in the Melbourne Rebels academy, he failed to secure a professional contract and his dream of playing Super Rugby looked doomed.

But his agent sent footage of him to teams in France and Top 14 giants Toulouse decided to sign him.

He still had the passion to play rugby, so Meafou turned his back on a potential NFL future and moved to Europe in late 2018.

It was a tough adaptation but Toulouse team-mates of Samoan heritage such as Piula Faasalele, Joe Tekori, Jerome Kaino and Charlie Faumuina "helped" him a lot.

"If I'm the player I am, it is not just because of me, many people worked with me," Meafou told French radio station RMC Sport in 2023.

A year after arriving in France, he made his Toulouse debut and has since gone on to win the Top 14 four times and Champions Cup twice with the southern French powerhouses.

Such was his form that Galthie called him up to train with France before he had even qualified to represent his adopted country on residency grounds.

The Wallabies woke up too late to the giant gem they had let slip.

Eddie Jones tried to convince Meafou to commit to Australia ahead of the 2023 World Cup in France, but the lock had already made up his mind to wait for Les Bleus.

He applied for a passport and by 2022 he told a French rugby podcast that he wanted to play for France.

That dream came true in March 2024, when he was picked to start in a 45-24 victory over Wales in the Six Nations.

He has not looked back since.

E.Wlodarczyk--GL