This Wednesday (22 October) Fabien Galthié will name his 42-man squad ahead of France’s Quilter Nations Series fixtures against South Africa, Fiji and Australia. We’ve been eagerly anticipating this squad selection for a while, with plenty of injuries to front line stars, France’s mixed bag of performances in New Zealand, and the emergence of even more exciting young talent.
This Wednesday (22 October) Fabien Galthié will name his 42-man squad ahead of France’s Quilter Nations Series fixtures against South Africa, Fiji and Australia. We’ve been eagerly anticipating this squad selection for a while, with plenty of injuries to front line stars, France’s mixed bag of performances in New Zealand, and the emergence of even more exciting young talent.
We have the decided to help out the ‘greatest s*** on a human level’ by selecting our own 42 man squad. We obviously don’t have the full view of injury status, and we have tried to keep it sensible and realistic both in terms of the players and the overall balance. However, it is very much our squad and while a few of Galthié’s sacred cows avoided the chop, we couldn’t resist including a few Rosbifs favourites…
Front Row
One of the toughest areas for Galthié with so many injuries to first choice players; only Jean-Baptiste Gros and Julien Marchand are the absolute guaranteed selections here. South Africa on 8 November in Paris looks very ominous, so we have opted for tried and tested players. At hooker, Pierre Bourgarit is definitely next cab off the rank, and Gaetan Barlot’s performances over the summer (he was captain in the 2nd Test vs NZ) get them the nod over UBB’s uncapped Maxime Lamothe. Guillaume Cramont has started the season on fire at Toulouse, and his time will come - just not against Marx & Mbonambi this November.
At loosehead, the two form French looseheads in the Top 14 are Baptiste Erdocio and Rodrigue Neti. Erdocio struggled at times over the summer, but he’s the man in possession and his form is too hard to ignore. The 18 caps and 2 Champions Cup wins on Reda Wardi’s CV means he makes it. Giorgi Beria is a fantastic scrummager, but he’s not been seen much this season.
Tighthead prop is France’s biggest concern, with both Uini Atonio and his heir apparent, Bayonne’s Tongan-born Tevita Tatafu, both injured. We think Sipili Falatea is probably the best tighthead currently available. He’s got a horror injury record, but he can hold up a scrum and is very active round the park. Dorian Aldegheri makes it despite some mixed early season form. Again, we need some experience, and Aldegheri has it in him to pull out big performances; for all his scrummaging prowess, it is surely now time to move on from Rabah Slimani. We’ve also gone for the much-maligned Georges-Henri Colombe - even if the man himself has publicly said he’s not ready for a recall. His scrummaging continues to blow hot and cold but his ceiling is sky high and he had a brilliant all round game against New Zealand last November. Thomas Laclayat and Regis Montagne can count themselves slightly unlucky given some of their performances this season, so too Dany Priso who has impressed in his transition to tighthead.
Rosbifs selections: Jean Baptiste Gros, Baptiste Erdocio, Reda Wardi (Looseheads); Julien Marchand, Pierre Bourgarit, Gaetan Barlot (Hookers); Sipili Falatea, Georges-Henri Colombe, Dorian Aldegheri (Tightheads)
Second Row
Perhaps the least complicated area for Galthié, with his front line men all fit. Thibaud Flament, Manny Meafou and Mickaël Guillard are all locked in, with Guillard a real chance of starting at no.8. Hugo Auradou’s lineout work has been outstanding at Pau this season, and Romain Taofifenua gives another tighthead lock option. Again the spectre of not only South Africa, but a Will Skelton-boosted Australia has influenced our selection. We’ve opted for only five ‘specialists’ here, given the options in the back row that can play second row (Woki, Ollivon, Boudehent playing there now).
Rosbifs selections: Thibaud Flament, Hugo Auradou, Mickael Guillard, Manny Meafou, Romain Taofifenua
Back Row
The most hotly contested area, but also an area where there are opportunities because of the type of hybrid player France have, and Galthié’s penchant for a 6-2 or 7-1 split. We have selected a whopping 11 back row players as a result. For us, only Paul Boudehent and François Cros are absolute certainties. We were prepared to cull a Galthié sacred cow in Greg Alldritt - when was the last time he was one of the best players on the park? - but he keeps his spot as one of the few out-and-out no.8 specialists. By contrast, Lenni Nouchi is a man that is regularly the best player in any game he plays, and Oscar Jegou’s breakout 6 Nations campaign means he should make the match day squad. Anthony Jelonch appears to have rediscovered his best form (and possibly a little bit extra), and we’ve seen enough from Charles Ollivon since his return from injury. Both Jelonch and Ollivon give flexibility, as well as their obvious experience. Alexandre Fischer’s performances in New Zealand as a more traditional Anglo-style flanker brings a different option.
France are blessed with a number of all-court athletes, and Galthié seems to love picking a back row with these style of player. A classic of this genre, we’ve gone for Cameron Woki over Alexandre Roumat and Kylian Tixeront. However, one name has roared into the conversation here: Esteban Capilla. He is raw, but is an incredible athlete. His lineout work is brilliant, he’s got a physical edge and his energy and sheer pace around the park belies his background in 7s. He has to be in as one of the form players in the Top 14. He has shades of an old Rosbifs favourite Sekou Macalou, who we couldn’t resist including as another wildcard for a 7-1 split.
Rosbifs selections: Paul Boudehent, Alexandre Fischer, Francois Cros, Oscar Jegou, Cameron Woki, Esteban Capilla, Charles Ollivon, Lenni Nouchi, Antony Jelonch, Greg Alldritt, Sekou Macalou
Scrum Half
An area of obvious strength for France in recent years, yet we were left scratching our heads on who to pick. We think Maxime Lucu may well be fit in time, which would probably influence the other selections. However, for us, with Lucu and Dupont both injured, Baptiste Serin feels like the man upon whom France should base their game plan - he is still the closest player they have to Dupont. Nolann Le Garrec is the man in possession and has that Dupont/Serin ability to spark something from nowhere. But-for-injury, the final slot would go to Baptiste Couilloud. Without Lucu, we wanted another controlling general and Paul Graou’s individual form, allied with his relationship with Romain Ntamack and Thomas Ramos mean we’ve gone for him. However, if Lucu is fit, Graou’s slot should go to a more livewire pick, which would be Baptiste Jauneau, albeit his performances in New Zealand were a real mixed bag.
Rosbifs selections: Baptiste Serin, Nolann Le Garrec, Paul Graou
Fly Half
There are some in-from pretenders to the jersey, but it would be a huge shock to see anyone other than Ntamack, Mathieu Jalibert or Ramos lining up at 10 this autumn. While the form of Joris Segonds and (to a lesser extent) Antoine Hastoy is eyecatching, we don’t see the need to pick a third out-and-out fly half in the squad - they’re just not going to play. In the event of an injury to Ntamack, it may well be Ramos that would play fly half even ahead of Jalibert, so Segonds or Hastoy would be 4th choice at best. Surely that slot is best served by including yet another back row hybrid player; this explains how we’ve found space for Macalou.
Rosbifs selections: Romain Ntamack, Matthieu Jalibert
Centre
This is a fascinating area given some of the recent Top 14 performances of some of the younger talent, and an area of frightening strength given two outstanding choices are out injured in Yoram Moefana & Jonathan Danty. Gaël Fickou is an absolute certainty, and Pierre-Louis Barassi, Nicolas Depoortère and Émilien Gailleton are aren’t far off that status.
Although all four prefer the 13 jersey, the first three have all started games at 12 for France - one of them will fill the Moefana-shaped hole at 12. That said, we need a specialist 12 for our final centre slot. Kalvin Gourges may well have caught the eye with his good looks and his audacious performances, but 19 year old Fabien Brau-Boirie has been consistently one of the best centres in the Top 14 for nearly a year now. It might not be bulldozing, but the way his subtle footwork and wiry strength allow him to break the gainline just screams 50 cap international.
Rosbifs selections: Gaël Fickou, Nicolas Depoortère, Fabien Brau-Boirie, Pierre-Louis Barassi, Émilien Gailleton
Back Three
The starting back three picks itself given availability. With two world class fly halves fit, Ramos will play 15, and injury to Theo Attissogbe means that Penaud will start. Sacrilege to say it, but France’s record try-scorer would have been under threat.
Gaël Dréan has been in scintillating try scoring form this season with two wonder tries taking him to 17 tries in 23 games since the start of last season - he has to be in. Aside from his top drawer finishing ability, Matthis Lebel’s all round game is very good and merits a spot as deputy to Louis Bielle-Biarrey in the absence of Gabin Villière, while Tom Spring impressed in New Zealand.
Romain Buros can’t catch a break on the injury front: he’s only played 13 times since making his France debut against New Zealand last November. It’s a tight call to put the powerful Cheikh Tiberghien ahead of Toulon’s silky Marius Domon, and while Léo Barré is a Galthié favourite, we feel the Bayonne full back is a far more dependable option. If you can see beyond his horrorshows in New Zealand and back to his other outings for Les Bleus, then arguably Barré deserves a shot.
Rosbifs selections: Louis Bielle Biarrey, Matthis Lebel, Damien Penaud, Tom Spring, Gaël Dréan, Thomas Ramos, Cheikh Tiberghien
That feels a fitting place to finish as perhaps more than anyone else, Barré highlights the differences between our squad and what will be announced on 22 October: Fabien Galthié has his favourites and you’d expect him to remain loyal to them regardless of recent form.
You can watch the discussion of our France squad over on our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@RosbifsRugby