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If the Six Nations, as the oft-noted catchphrase goes, is “all about momentum” then this fixture will only be going one way. After their respective performances last weekend, there couldn’t be two teams more at opposite ends of the momentum spectrum than those that will be pitted against each other on Sunday afternoon in Cardiff. The narratives in the media and the rugby public, particularly the regular updates on how many tickets have or haven’t been sold for the Principality Stadium, have only served to accentuate the different trajectories of France and Wales.
France dismantled Ireland in the first half in Paris, while Wales…well, let’s just not go there. To make things worse, France have had two days extra rest. No game in the Six Nations is ever a foregone conclusion, especially when the stronger team is away from home, but it is hard to see much other than a France win.
If you do subscribe to the view that the result of this game is already certain - and thus the joy of why we play and watch sport has been removed - then there is still plenty to get excited about ahead of this game. Before we go into our ‘Three Reasons to be Excited’, some balance: this France side does have a number of new combinations and plenty of inexperienced heads - 11 of the match day 23 have fewer than 15 international caps, including two debutants. A lack of experience, whether of playing with each other or with international rugby more generally, means that a consistent level of performance is not guaranteed. (Note: this is categorically NOT us saying “you just don’t know whether France will turn up…”).
Last Six Nations was the first time Yoram Moefana truly came to the fore as France’s premier inside centre, whilst his Union Bordeaux-Bègles teammate Nicolas Depoortère was Autumn’s breakthrough, and the stand out back on either side in last week’s game against Ireland. Kalvin Gourgues, Toulouse’s wünderkind who marked his international debut with a stunning break with his first touch against Australia in November, has understandably had observers purring.
The series of injuries that rules out all three could be considered unfortunate on one hand, but with France’s enviable depth, it brings another level of excitement thanks to a brand-new starting centre pairing, and a huge potential weapon off the bench.
Fabien Galthié has the luxury of turning to another established club pairing to start on Sunday in Cardiff. For UBB’s Moefana and Depoortère, in step the young Section Paloise duo of Emilien Gailleton and Fabien Brau-Boirie. Croydon-born Gailleton has been invested in for some time and has long been thought to have a bright international future, although his international appearances have largely been limited to bench appearances, and often on the wing. Pau and France fans alike will be hoping that starting in his preferred outside centre position will bring out his best.
Brau-Boirie was a France Under 20 as recently as July and would still be eligible to play for them right now, having only turned 20 in December. And yet he now has over a year’s worth of experience as a regular starter in the Top 14 behind him. In that time, he has been one of the league’s stand out performers. Thanks to his consistency and durability, he has been a bigger part of Pau’s transformation this season from also-rans to play-off and title contenders than either of Gailleton or Théo Attissogbe, his already-capped club team-mates that he will take the field with on Sunday.
By no means does he look like a big bruising centre - to look at him, you wouldn’t be too surprised to learn how young he is - but he has a knack of consistently getting over the gainline and making yards after contact. He is more than capable, too, of standing up to the big midfield bashers. Of most importance for this game though, is that way that he links with his fellow Palois Gailleton and Attissogbe. Given the way Wales defended in the outside channels last week, we could see the men in Bleu tear up like they have in Vert et Blanc.
In case one brand-new blockbusting inside centre wasn’t enough, Fabien Galthié has opted to include the uncapped Noah Néné on the bench. The 21-year old from Stade Français gets the nod over uncapped Toulon winger Gaël Dréan for the no.23 jersey. Where Brau-Boirie is deceptively strong for his size, there is nothing deceptive above the explosive power of Néné.
Néné was playing at Dax in Pro D2 last season when he was first called into a Six Nations training squad, having caught everyone’s attention with an outstanding solo try against Mont-de-Marsan in the Landes Derby during his loan with the Sud-Ouest club. A viral sensation, the try shows that he absolutely has all the attributes you could want for in a centre.
On returning to Paris this season, he has forced his way into the side, breaking up the previously rock-solid first-choice centre pairing of Jeremy Ward & Joe Marchant. He has scored six tries in 10 Top 14 games and went toe-to-toe with Josua Tuisova in a bruising Parisian derby in December. He could cause havoc off the bench on Sunday.
Elsewhere, Galthié resisted the temptation to revert to what many assume to be his first choice second row pairing of Thibaud Flament and Manny Meafou. Flament returns on the bench in place of Hugo Auradou and is almost certainly the no.1 lock in France, but whether the Toulouse duo really are the first-choice pairing is up for debate, especially given the outstanding performances of Charles Ollivon and Mickaël Guillard last week. Ollivon is clearly now a genuine second row option and Guillard seems to get better and better from an already high base.
This time two years ago, France’s second row stocks looked a bit sparse as they waited on the residency qualification and fitness of Meafou. He made his long-awaited France debut in this fixture in the 2024 Six Nations, a tournament which France stuttered into against Ireland in Marseille with a second row pairing of Paul Willemse and Paul Gabrillagues, and a 19 year old debutant in Posolo Tuilagi on the bench alongside Cameron Woki. France now find themselves in the luxurious position of having four high calibre lock options in a match day squad, with further quality waiting in reserve, with the likes of Auradou, Woki, Tom Staniforth, Jimi Maximin all playing Top 14 rugby this weekend.
Galthié has also given Paul Boudehent an extra week of recovery following his injury. He was available for selection this weekend, but Lenni Nouchi gets another chance after an impressive and typically abrasive 18 minutes off the bench against Ireland. France are clearly using this opportunity to give game time to players who only have a few caps, the reason given for switching from Péato Mauvaka to Maxime Lamothe in the reserve hooker role.
Galthié may be more obviously using the Wales game to get some caps into his less experienced players, but of more importance is the game time being given to his three key playmakers.
Antoine Dupont has only sparingly hit his absolute freakshow best levels since his return from injury, so further game time against ‘weaker’ Six Nations opposition is welcome from his individual perspective. But for France, one of the big themes of this Six Nations seems to be all about raising their ceiling, and if they are to do so then they need Matthieu Jalibert to get as close to having the sort of telepathic relationship with Dupont that Romain Ntamack and Thomas Ramos have. Ntamack may still be nursing an injury, you’d think that Jalibert would have continued in the No. 10 jersey regardless, given his commanding display against Ireland.
The seamless harmonising between him and Ramos that we saw in Paris showed that Jalibert can work in that France team in between the two Toulousain playmakers. It is generally accepted that the intermingling of the UBB and Toulouse backlines is still work in progress, and that is something that should terrify not just Wales, but everyone else in international rugby.
Wales Starting XV (1-15): Rhys Carre, Dewi Lake, Tomas Francis, Dafydd Jenkins, Adam Beard, Aaron Wainwright, Alex Mann, Olly Cracknell, Tomos Williams, Dan Edwards, Josh Adams, Joe Hawkins, Eddie James, Ellis Mee, Louis Rees-Zammit
Wales Replacements: (16-23) Ryan Elias, Nicky Smith, Archie Griffin, Ben Carter, Taine Plumtree, Kieran Hardy, Jarrod Evans, Mason Grady
France Starting XV (1-15): Jean-Baptiste Gros, Julien Marchand, Dorian Aldegheri, Charles Ollivon, Mickael Guillard, Francois Cros, Oscar Jegou, Anthony Jelonch, Antoine Dupont, Matthieu Jalibert, Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Fabien Brau-Boirie, Emilien Gailleton, Theo Attissogbe, Thomas Ramos
France Replacements (16-23): Maxime Lamothe, Rodrigue Neti, Regis Montagne, Thibaud Flament, Emmanuel Meafou, Lenni Nouchi, Baptiste Serin, Noah Nene
