France’s first-choice fly-half was robbed of the chance to star in his home World Cup by a knee injury suffered on the eve of the tournament.
He had to watch as Les Bleus went in as favourites only to crash out in the quarter-finals to eventual winners South Africa.
Eight months on the disappointment of an opportunity lost is still felt across France but Ntamack’s ruptured anterior cruciate ligament is fully repaired.
On Sunday the 24-year-old emerges from the shadows to start his first match since August when Toulouse host Racing 92 in the Champions Cup round of 16.
His physical readiness is not in doubt. What is harder to measure is the mental scar left by an episode which denied the brilliant fly-half a career highlight.
But Emile Ntamack, the first man ever to lift rugby’s European Cup and father to Romain, has offered a unique and intimate insight to Planet Rugby.
He has also given his verdict on the involvement of South African teams in a competition won a record five times by Toulouse.
“For Romain it was a big injury, a devastating moment in his life,” says Ntamack senior. “He had a dream about the World Cup and it turned into a nightmare.
“It was tough, very tough too for us, his family. You love your children, you want the best for them and this was timing was very cruel.”
Emile vowed to help his son navigate a path through the intense disappointment, assuring him ‘we are together in this difficulty, we will find a solution’.
He knew that would be easier said than done. What he did not realise was how much easier it would be made by Romain’s astonishing resilience.
“I’ll be back,” the star tweeted at the height of his disappointment, just two days after suffering the injury against Scotland in St Etienne.
