Through a press release issued this Tuesday, at the start of the afternoon, Fabien Galthié, the boss of the XV of France, revealed his list of 42 players called to meet on Sunday, in Aubagne (Bouches-du- Rhône) to prepare for the Six Nations Tournament.
With a little surprise: the opener of Bordeaux-Bègles, Matthieu Jalibert, is not part of the group, two days after his exit through injury in the European Cup.
Dupont is there…
The Bordelais suffers from a muscular lesion in the thigh and must be absent from the field for two weeks. A priori, he should at least miss the first match against Italy on February 6.
On the other hand, Antoine Dupont Dupont (25 years old, 35 selections), back from injury and interim captain in the absence of Charles Ollivon, who has been injured for a long time, is there after resuming training on Monday with Stade Toulousain.
The best player in the world 2021 will form, as often, a 100% Toulouse hinge with Romain Ntamack (22 years old, 23 selections).
… the hard core too
Unsurprisingly, the hard core of the XV of France is also in the game: hooker Julien Marchand (26 years old, 16 selections), pillar Cyril Baille (28 years old, 31 selections), third lines Grégory Alldritt (24 years old, 26 selections) and Cameron Woki (23 years old, 11 selections), the center Gaël Fickou (27 years old, 66 selections), the wingers Damian Penaud (25 years old, 28 selections) and Gabin Villière (26 years old, 9 selections) or the backs Melvyn Jaminet (22 years old, 6 selections) and Brice Dulin (31 years old, 36 selections)… have been called up.
seven new
For the rest, if Fabien Galthié relies on the base of a team which has been successful during the two tours in 2021, the staff of the Blues has nevertheless called on seven neophytes.
The young pillar of Clermont Daniel Bibi Biziwu is the main surprise on this list, alongside newcomers like the third line of Racing 92 Yoan Tanga, the versatile three-quarter of La Rochelle Jules Favre, the center of Clermont Tani Vili, the Lyon opener Léo Berdeu, Montpellier second line Florian Verhaeghe and Castres Florent Vanverberghe.
After a preparation course in the Bouches-du-Rhône, with the foreign legion, the XV of France will face Italy on February 6 at the Stade de France at the opening of the Six Nations Tournament which it has not won since 2010. .