A final training session, behind closed doors in Marcoussis, before the big jump. The French XV launches its year 2026 this Thursday against Ireland (9:10 p.m. at the Stade de France), opening the Six Nations Tournament. Monday, on the eve of announcing his team composition, Fabien Galthié preferred to train his troops out of sight. A sign that the Blues are up to something? Coming shortly after at a press conference, full-back and scorer Thomas Ramos notably confirmed that the French XV is working to improve its offensive movements. And in passing reaffirms the great ambitions of the Blues for this 2026 Tournament, despite the non-selection of his friend Damian Penaud.
Every even year, where you play more at home (three receptions) during the tournament, there is a word that comes up: the Grand Slam. Is this also the case for you?
THOMAS RAMOS. With three receptions, obviously everyone is thinking about the Grand Slam. But it’s not a word that comes up in our heads and our discussions at the moment. For us, what comes first is to start the competition well, with a victory. Winning the first match also gives you confidence. Afterwards, we saw last year, it can go very quickly: with the defeat in England, no one would have thought that we would win the Tournament, and we did it.
With the absence of certain major players, have you, who has experience, been asked to invest more in supervising the younger players?
I wasn’t asked for anything, and I didn’t necessarily have the need or desire to do more. Our captain (Antoine Dupont) also comes back, so it brings a little more weight to the speeches. The new generation is professional enough and mentally prepared to know what they have to do. Young people know where they want to go. From time to time, we call them to order, but it’s rare.
These absences, notably that of Damian Penaud, also prove that no one is immovable. Does that put a little more pressure on you?
I spent three years not playing, so not being caught, being in the stands, I know what it feels like. It’s heartbreaking for Dam’s, not having him here. And for others too. Now I didn’t feel any negative pressure about it. When you wear the French team jersey, you have to perform well, even more so in front of the general public, at the Stade de France, at the opening of the Tournament. Regardless of one’s status, regardless of age, what drives us, more than wondering if we are in danger or not, is to perform for the team. If you enter the field with the fear of doing badly, it’s complicated.
Your November tour (two successes, one defeat) was perhaps not completely satisfactory. What needs to be improved?
We need to improve our offensive movements. If we achieve this while scoring the same number of tries as we have for one or two years, we will be able to destabilize the teams even more.
During this same tour, disciplinary problems cost you. Did you work there this week?
It was one of the dark points of this November tour so yes, it is an important subject of discussion, and it is a sector in which we will have to perform well, especially from the first match. We know that the Irish feed a lot on the penalties suffered by their opponents. We will have to make as few mistakes as possible to avoid giving them free ammunition in our camp.
What remains of the victory in Dublin (27-42) in 2025?
This match tipped us towards victory, especially after the defeat in England and all the offensive chances we had created. Behind, winning in Italy by scoring 70 points and scoring 40 in Ireland was a show of character. Of course, at the end of the match, we relaxed a little, but it was still a big victory, and I think it left its mark and proved that we had resources and character. We finally managed to afford the Tournament. The Irish must remember this.
