The National League and the French Rugby Federation formalized on Tuesday the agreement reducing from 42 to 34 the number of players called up by the XV of France during the gatherings of the Six Nations Tournament starting this year. This amendment to the agreement concerning the provision of internationals adopted in 2022 between the clubs, represented by the League, and the Federation, was validated last week by the LNR. It was approved on Tuesday by the FFR, specify the two bodies in a joint press release.
“We are proud of this agreement, which represents the best compromise and a carefully negotiated balance between the needs of the clubs and the national team”, underlined in the press release the vice-president of the FFR Jean-Marc Lhermet. This agreement “ensures the best possible balance between the French team and the Top 14 and positions the players at the center of concerns by formalizing rest times”, declared for his part the general director of the LNR, Emmanuel Eschalier.
Accustomed to having a group of 42 players, France XV coach Fabien Galthié will have to deal with 34 players at the start of the week during the 2024 Six Nations Tournament. On Wednesday evening, this group will be reduced to 28, with the other six being released to their clubs. For the week preceding France-Ireland, the opening match of the tournament exceptionally scheduled for a Friday evening (February 2), these players will be released on Tuesday evening.
42 players during the Summer Tour
During the week of the preparation camp (which will begin on January 22), as well as before the matches against Italy (February 25) and Wales (March 10) which will take place on a Sunday, these six players will be replaced for Thursday by six others, selected from the ten Top 14 clubs with the fewest players in the group of 34. Each of these replacements must come from a different club, and the FFR specifies that it will ensure do not always call on the same players over these three Thursdays.
This amendment also specifies that Fabien Galthié will be able to rely on a group of 42 players for the summer tour in Argentina, where the French XV will face the Pumas on July 6 and 13. But this summer tour will only concern players who were little or not used during the Tournament and who will not have played in the Top 14 final, scheduled for June 28.
The amendment made official on Tuesday establishes relations between the clubs and the French team only for the next Six Nations Tournament and for the 2024 summer tour. It specifies that the FFR and the LNR will continue their exchanges during the first half of the year. in order to agree on a framework covering the next three seasons, until the 2027 World Cup in Australia.
