Coach: Fabien Galthié
Captain: Antoine Dupont
Overview
Fabien Galthié presides over a crop of exceptional young talent that has been cultivated and nurtured from under-20 level going back half a dozen years. The French 20s won the 2018, 2019 and 2023 (they beat Ireland in the final) World Cups – the tournament didn’t take place from 2020-2022 inclusive – and last summer lost the final to England.
The France head coach has drawn down heavily from those teams to populate the side that will take on Wales in the opening round of the Six Nations Championship. Despite missing a handful of frontline players through injury, the French are still able to field a matchday 23 that contains a liberal sprinkling of youthful talent.
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Théo Attissogbé offers a classic example. The Pau fullback will wear the number 14 jersey vacated by the injured Damian Penaud, having made his French senior debut against Argentina during the summer and scored his maiden Test try that day.
The 20-year-old, who played against Ireland in the 2023 Under-20 World Cup final, is a prototype French outside back, strong, blisteringly quick and elusive. He joins others such as Pierre-Louis Barassi, who starts in midfield, and Émilien Gailleton, two brilliant young centres, while Nolann Le Garrec has fought off a host of ridiculously talented scrumhalves to be understudy to Antoine Dupont.
Galthié’s support for two other young players has caused a few ripples of discontent in France. Oscar Jegou and Hugo Auradou were arrested during the summer tour of Argentina over the aggravated rape of a woman. Their charges were dismissed in December, but the complainant’s lawyer has appealed the decision, and it will be heard the week after next in Argentina.
The French head coach has spoken on the matter before but shut down questions during the team announcement this week. “We have been answering questions on this (Jegou/Auradou) for almost six months . Today is about who is playing against Wales, who deserves their place due to their performances. I hear your question, but we are going to focus on the match with Wales, the Six Nations tournament and only questions regarding rugby.”
On the rugby front injuries have removed several frontline players, including Penaud, Gaël Fickou, Reda Wardi, Thibaud Flament, Charles Ollivon and Anthony Jelonch for varying time periods but the strength in depth is obvious.
Dupont, who missed last year’s Six Nations to concentrate on winning his Olympic Sevens gold medal, is back in tandem with his long-time halfback buddy and Toulouse team-mate Romain Ntamack, who hasn’t played for the national side since sustaining a knee injury before the 2023 World Cup.
Their understanding for club and country will be a key factor in the French challenge, one underpinned in personnel terms by a large tranche of Toulouse players supported by Bordeaux-Bègles and La Rochelle.
The pivotal fixtures in the Six Nations should be the clash with “Les Rosbifs” at Twickenham in round two and a trip to Dublin to take on Simon Easterby’s reigning Six Nations champions. However, France occasionally take their eye off the ball and have slipped up at the most inopportune moments.
Galthié will want a statement performance on the opening day against Wales to take to London, where they have only won once (2023) in their last 10 meetings across a variety of tournaments. A win would most likely see an unbeaten France heading to Ireland on the penultimate weekend of the tournament.
France have the personnel and the game plan to win a Grand Slam, the challenge is to show they can be mentally robust enough to see that task through.
Player to watch: The jet-heeled Louis Bielle-Biarrey is one of the most exciting players in world rugby. There are few if any quicker than the 21-year-old wing but it’s all the other elements that he brings to the game – his lines of running, vision, kicking game, aerial work and his aggressive tackling – that make him an outstanding talent. He also works hard off his wing, popping up in places that cause opponents maximum difficulty.
Title odds: 8/5
Last three finishes: second, second, first (Grand Slam)
Fixtures (all times Irish): Friday, January 31st: France v Wales, Stade de France (8.15). Saturday, February 8th: England v France, Twickenham, (4.45). Sunday, February 23rd: Italy v France, Stadio Olimpico, (3.0). Saturday, March 8th: Ireland v France, Aviva Stadium (2.15). Saturday, March 15th: France v Scotland, Stade de France (8.0)
Prospects: There is no shortage of confidence before the start of the tournament and with justifiable cause. There aren’t many countries that could have shipped the number of injuries to high-profile players and still produce a team full of the virtues of French rugby, power, artistry and pace. They have got to travel to London and Dublin but should do so with some of their walking wounded back in situ. If they can beat England, then the round-four clash with Ireland could define the outcome of the tournament for one or both.
