The coach of the Blues announced the composition of the French team which will challenge the Irish, Thursday at the Stade de France, to launch the 2026 Tournament.
The champion puts his title back on the line. Crowned last year, the XV of France launches its 2026 Tournament with the reception of Ireland, this Thursday (9:10 p.m.) at the Stade de France, with a double ambition: to make the Grand Slam and achieve a double which has not happened since 2006 and 2007. For this opening shock against the XV of Trèfle, Fabien Galthié delivered, this Tuesday, his team composition with – this is awaited by all French rugby – the return in blue of Antoine Dupont to the scrum, almost a year after his serious knee injury against these same Irish. He will pair up at the hinge with Matthieu Jalibert (UBB), sparkling in recent months with UBB and logical number 1 choice in the absence of Romain Ntamack (Toulouse), injured in a kidney since the end of December.
When announcing his first group of 42 players, the Blues coach surprised everyone by excluding three executives from his first mandate: Damian Penaud (UBB), Gaël Fickou (Racing 92) and Grégory Alldritt (La Rochelle). They are replaced respectively by Théo Attissogbe (Pau), already prominent last year in the Tournament and during the last two summer tours of the XV of France, Nicolas Depoortere (UBB), regular in the blue house, and Anthony Jelonch (Toulouse), versatile third row. At his side, we will find François Cros (Toulouse), an uncertain time but who will hold his place well, and Oscar Jegou (La Rochelle).
Skip the ad
The big question of the week concerned the right axis of the French scrum. The brutal retirement of Uini Atonio (La Rochelle) reshuffled the cards at the right pillar position. And, finally, it was Dorian Aldegheri (Toulouse) who was preferred to Régis Montagne (Clermont), holder during the three test matches in November, to don the flocked jersey of number 3. This will be his first start since the 2023 World Cup and the sluggish group match against Uruguay (27-12).
Also read
XV of France: “A real plus to have these automatisms with Jalibert and Moefana”, rejoices Depoortere
Behind him, it is Mickaël Guillard (Lyon) – successfully tested in number 8 – who will push into the second line, rather than Emmanuel Meafou (Toulouse), still looking for his past percussion strength. A choice dictated by the power/mobility combination between the two tandems 3-5, to the right of the scrum. What Laurent Sempéré, deputy in charge of the forwards, explained: “They have different profiles. Dorian is very good in closed melee. A sector in which Régis is progressing. We also have to look at mobility, but also complementarity with the rest of the team.”
“We want to be both dynamic and solid”
In the absence of Thibaud Flament remaining alongside his wife who is going to make a PMA, Mickaël Guillard will be associated, in the cage, with Charles Ollivon (Toulon), usual third row but who had moved up a notch, this fall, against Fiji (and three times this season with the RCT). On the third line, the staff finally opted for Oscar Jegou (La Rochelle) rather than Lenni Nouchi (Montpellier). “All of this must also fit with our way of playing and the strategy we want to put in place. It’s linked to the pace we want to impose. We want to be both dynamic and solid», had justified Laurent Sempéré.
Also read
Six Nations: Prendergast at the opening, Lowe absent, bench in 6-2… The line-up of Ireland against the XV of France
For the rest, the three-quarter line of the XV of France will have a strong UBB connotation with Yoram Moefana and Nicolas Depoortere in the center with, on one wing, Louis Bielle-Biarrey, who last year broke the record for tries registered during the same edition of the Six Nations (8). The staff has, moreover, opted for a 6-2 bench (six forwards, two backs), including the promising Kalvin Gourgues (Toulouse), a versatile three-quarterback who made an impression in November when he made his debut against the Wallabies. For the position of replacement hooker, Peato Mauvaka (Toulouse), who returned to the field at the beginning of January after a serious knee injury (4 matches played since), was preferred to Maxime Lamothe (UBB).
France, crowned in 2022 and 2025, and Ireland (in the meantime in 2023 and 2024) have shared the last four titles in the Six Nations Tournament. The last two confrontations ended in away victories: a violent slap received by the Blues in Marseille in 2024 (17-38) and an impressive tour de force by the Tricolores at the Aviva Stadium last year (27-42). A ball everywhere in the center. The XV du Trèfle has not won at the Stade de France since 2018. A success snatched thanks to a monumental drop (45 m!) from its totemic opener Jonathan Sexton in the very last moments of the match (13-15).
Skip the ad
The composition of the XV of France:
Ramos – Attissogbe, Depoortere, Moefana, Bielle-Biarrey – (o) Jalibert, (m) Dupont (cap.) – Jegou, Jelonch, Cros – Guillard, Ollivon – Aldegheri, Marchand, Gros
Substitutes: Mauvaka, Neti, Montagne, Auradou, Meafou, Nouchi, Serin, Gourgues
Substitutes: Drean, Dréan
