France Six Nations squad: Five takeaways as ‘bold’ snubs stink of ‘desperation’ and Fabien Galthie must put personal issues aside
France centre Gael Fickou and an inset of Matthieu Jalibert.
Following the announcement of Fabien Galthié’s France squad for the 2026 Six Nations, here are our five takeaways.
Top line
Galthie is never shy to make a bold call, and ahead of this tournament, the France head coach has made three, dropping Gregory Alldritt, Damian Penaud and Gael Fickou, the latter of which is on the cusp of earning a centurion of Test caps.
As is now customary with the head coach, he has included a plethora of uncapped players in his 42-man squad – eight in total. They are Aaron Grandidier Nkanang, Tom Staniforth, Temo Matiu, Gregoire Arfeuil, Fabien Brau-Boirie, Gaël Dréan, Noah Nene, and Ugo Seunes.
Despite the new faces and snubbed stars, there are the usual regular faces in the form of forwards Cyril Baille, François Cros, Thibaud Flament, Mickaël Guillard, Oscar Jegou, Anthony Jelonch, Julien Marchand, Peato Mauvaka, Emmanuel Meafou, and Charles Ollivon. As well as backs, Theo Attissogbe, Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Nicolas Depoortere, Yoram Moefana, and Thomas Ramos.
Then, of course, there is the welcome return of captain Antoine Dupont, who could combine with in-form Bordeaux playmaker Matthieu Jalibert.
Additionally, with several injuries in the number nine position, Baptiste Serin also marks his return to the set-up. He is primed to feature in the Six Nations for the first time since 2021.
Is Galthie tinkering or is he terrified?
Since the 2023 Rugby World Cup quarter-final defeat to South Africa, Fabien Galthie’s position as head coach of the national team has been under the spotlight. The pressure eased after a strong November of 2024, having failed to win the Six Nations.
A tournament success last year cemented his position for the time being, but a disappointing Test series in New Zealand, where France were whitewashed 3-0 by the All Blacks, saw the pressure mount despite the second-string nature of the touring party. An underwhelming November saw the pressure on the head coach re-surface, and this squad announcement raises the question of whether he is now desperate or is obsessed with tinkering.
There are signs of desperation with the omissions of Penaud, Alldritt and Fickou. Bordeaux speedster Penaud has been in wonderful attacking form for his club and is his country’s all-time leading try scorer. Surely, he warrants a place in the wider squad at the very least?
Galthie has openly criticised Penaud’s defensive frailties in the recent past, and that could very well be the reasoning for his axing as well. He has seemingly weighed up the pros and cons of selecting the 29-year-old and deemed that there is too much of the latter.
The selection calls can look bold, brave, bullish or plainly stupid; it all depends on the observer. Frankly, it stinks of desperation, of a coach who is under the cosh and has looked far too deeply into the numbers instead of remembering that rugby isn’t just a numbers game, with experience and leadership being pivotal attributes that cannot be detailed in numbers.
Leaders surplus to requirements
What makes the omissions of Alldritt and Fickou all the more puzzling is the fact that the duo both captained the team at some point last year.
The back-rower did so after Dupont’s season came to a crushing end in the clash against Ireland, while Fickou tookover for the disastrous tour to New Zealand and the ensuing November internationals.
The experienced midfielder has always been a consistent performer for Les Bleus, and while the competition for his position has heated up in recent seasons, he remains a classy operator. Dropping a player of Fickou’s pedigree also risks causing unrest in the squad, and the French do love a good revolt.
Dupont’s return and Charles Ollivon’s inclusion means that the squad isn’t lacking captaincy options, with Julien Marchand another possible option in that regard. However, it’s strange that two players who were trusted with the leadership role last year aren’t trusted to perform in the Six Nations.
Galthie is known to be a tougher customer, a demanding head coach who can cause rifts, making him more suited to the international scene than the club game. While he has got by for now, with a few hiccups, if results don’t go France’s way this Six Nations, the status quo could change and quickly.
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The search for Will Skelton’s copy continues as France continue to cap foreign-born players
Throughout Galthie’s tenure as head coach, it’s been plainly obvious that he is searching for the French version of Wallabies powerhouse Will Skelton, who has been sublime for La Rochelle since his arrival from Saracens. In fact, the Les Bleus boss has more recently been searching for two tighthead locks of his calibre.
First, it was Paul Willemse who was tasked with doing the job and to his credit, he did it extremely well as France finally ended their long wait for a Six Nations title. However, eventually his form dipped, and when he recovered, a career-ending injury meant that Galthie had turn his attentions elsewhere.
Posolo Tuilagi was given a shot, impressed, got injured and now finds himself out of favour. Emmanuel Meafou now looks to be the go-to starter, particularly in the second row alongside his Toulouse teammate Thibaud Flament.
Romain Taofifénua looked to be Meafou’s back-up, particularly after he was persuaded not to prematurely retire. He was part of the squad in November, but he has now discarded in favour of the newest prospect, Australian Tom Staniforth.
The former Brumbies and Waratahs’ second rower has been in brilliant form for Castres and performed consistently for the side since joining the Top 14 club in 2021, but joins the longlist of foreign-born players to trade international allegiances to Les Bleus.
He could be adding to the growing tally along with English-born speedster Grandidier Nkanang, who has been preferred to Penaud.
Scotland and Ireland get a lot of stick for capping foreign-born players, but France are far from innocent.
Give Jalibert the keys
The relationship between Matthieu Jalibert and Galthie is a strained one, with the fly-half regularly requesting to be released from the squad when not selected in matchday 23s. In fact, he even did so when he was included on the bench.
There is no doubt that Dupont will be the starting number nine in all five fixtures if fit, but there is doubt around who will be his halfback partner. Ntamack would have been the frontrunner for the role, but injury has robbed him of that opportunity.
Last year, it was Thomas Ramos whom Galthie turned t,o but surely this time around, Jalibert’s current form is just too hard to ignore, and the Les Bleus simply has to put the personal disagreement or issue with the Bordeaux star to the side.
