Bernard Jackman: Fabien Galthie will be sacked if Six Nations selection gamble backfires
France head coach Fabien Galthie and ex-Ireland hooker Bernard Jackman.
Ex-Ireland hooker and respected pundit Bernard Jackman states that Fabien Galthie is putting his job on the line by dropping three France stalwarts.
Les Bleus’ head coach took the huge step to axe experienced trio Gregory Alldritt, Damian Penaud and Gael Fickou ahead of the Six Nations Championship.
Galthie has instead decided to bring in the younger Temo Matiu, Gael Drean and Fabien Brau-Boirie for the upcoming tournament.
It is a massive call, with Alldritt a former captain, Fickou their defensive leader and Penaud the country’s record try-scorer, and it could have significant ramifications for pretty much everyone involved.
Pressure on Galthie after RWC failure
The head coach, who will always be under pressure after failing to deliver a home Rugby World Cup in 2023, has certainly stuck his neck out.
According to Jackman, it may cost him. Despite being under two years from the next global tournament, the Springboks, England, Wales and most recently the All Blacks have all changed coaches midway through a World Cup cycle, so the 56-year-old is certainly not safe.
The former Grenoble head honcho started off by comparing it to the Ireland situation with Andy Farrell, unlike Galthie, willing to pick out-of-form players.
“If you look at two of Ireland’s most outstanding players over the last five, six, seven years, Bundee [Aki] and James Lowe, neither of them are in great form, but I can understand why Farrell wants them in there,” he said on the RTE Rugby podcast.
“He trusts them, they’re big game players and he will hope that he can get them back up to their level quite quickly. It’s also maybe a sign of a lack of real depth.
“If we talk about France, to be able to drop Damian Penaud, to be able to drop Gregory Alldritt, to be able to drop Gael Fickou, that wouldn’t happen in Ireland, there’s no chance. The risk for Galthie is if that backfires, he loses his job.
“With the likes of Drean coming through in Toulon, there’s alternatives to Damian Penaud. Alldritt’s form hasn’t been great and they had a poor November as well, so it’s probably a little bit of a reaction to that by Galthie.”
While Galthie’s decisions have caused a stir ahead of the Six Nations, Jackman is not necessarily surprised by the changes.
Galthie’s message to the players
“Matiu’s very good and Drean from Toulon is unbelievably quick, he’s nearly Bielle-Biarrey speed,” he said.
“He’s dropped three captains; Penaud, Alldritt and Fickou have all been senior leaders in that team. Fickou was the defensive captain, he was Shaun Edwards’ right-hand man, but his form has been pretty average for Racing 92.
“I think Alldritt’s form is very up and down. I don’t think they’ve written off those players as Penaud’s still going to be scoring tries for fun in the Champions Cup and Top 14, but for Fickou it could be it.
“Alldritt is a top-end player, but it will be interesting to see if he can find a way back in.
“Don’t forget they were pretty poor in November and that announcement is a reaction to that, and if you’re bringing Antoine Dupont back as captain, you can pretty much do what you want anyway.
“Galthie will see this as being a message to all the senior players that nobody is safe, you perform or you get chopped.”
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That message also applies to Uini Atonio, who may find himself out of the France squad after the 2026 Six Nations if he cannot regain his form.
Atonio missed the November Tests due to injury, which is perhaps why he has a stay of execution, given that his performances for La Rochelle have been underwhelming recently.
“Atonio’s in there but I think his days are done at the top level, I think he has one eye on retirement and I don’t think he’s scrummaged anywhere near what he is capable of. He doesn’t look in amazing physical shape,” Jackman added.
“If he plays, we will be okay, but I would definitely go with two tractors in the second-row in [Edwin] Edogbo and [Joe] McCarthy to start.”
