France: Fabien Galthié forced into late reshuffle as Matthieu Jalibert withdraws
France have been forced into a late change within their starting XV, as Matthieu Jalibert withdraws
France will be without star fly-half Matthieu Jalibert for their Six Nations game against Italy, with the Bordeaux-Begles man withdrawing through a calf issue.
Jalibert has been a consistent part of the France side this Championship, taking a starring role in their victories over Ireland and Wales in the opening two rounds, but was seen grimacing and holding his calf at the full-time whistle at the Principality Stadium last time out.
Matthieu Jalibert pulls out of France side as Fabien Galthié forced into changes
“A slight discomfort in my calf forces me to withdraw from tomorrow’s match,” Jalibert said on X.
“Thank you for your messages, I’ll be fully behind the teammates!”
His late withdrawal has seen a reshuffle within Les Bleus’ backline. Thomas Ramos now moves to fly-half, while Gaël Dréan comes in on the wing and Théo Attissogbe shifts over to full-back.
Elsewhere, France remain as advertised following their squad announcement on Friday. Louis Bielle-Biarrey joins the aforementioned Attissogbe and Dréan in the back-three, with Pau pairing Émilien Gailleton and Fabien Brau-Boirie keeping their spots in midfield. Ramos also now joins clubmate and France captain Antoine Dupont in the halves, a pairing which has reaped rewards for Les Bleus in the past.
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Anthony Jelonch, Oscar Jegou and François Cros continue their flourishing back-row combination, with Toulouse duo Emmanuel Meafou and Thibaud Flament coming into the starting XV in the locks. The front-row is also unchanged, with Dorian Aldegheri, Julien Marchand and Jean-Baptiste Gros all starting.
Peato Mauvaka, Georges-Henri Colombe and Pierre-Louis Barassi are also fresh faces on the bench, with Charles Ollivon and Mickaël Guillard also taking up a spot on the replacements after starting the previous two Tests this Six Nations. Rodrigue Neti, Lenni Nouchi and Baptiste Serin have also been retained.
France updated team v Italy
Revised starting XV: 15 Théo Attissogbe, 14 Gaël Dréan, 13 Émilien Gailleton, 12 Fabien Brau-Boirie, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Thomas Ramos, 9 Antoine Dupont (c), 8 Anthony Jelonch, 7 Oscar Jegou, 6 François Cros, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Thibaud Flament, 3 Dorian Aldegheri, 2 Julien Marchand, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements: 16 Peato Mauvaka, 17 Rodrigue Neti, 18 Georges-Henri Colombe, 19 Charles Ollivon, 20 Mickaël Guillard, 21 Lenni Nouchi, 22 Baptiste Serin, 23 Pierre-Louis Barassi
Date: Sunday, February 22
Venue: Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille
Kick-off: 16:10 local (15:10 GMT)
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Luke Pearce (England), Eoghan Cross (Ireland)
TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)
FPRO: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)