France squad: Winners and losers as ‘figurehead’ Antoine Dupont returns but Fabien Galthie ‘dicing with danger’
Fabien Galthie (right) has made some big calls this Six Nations, but the return of Antoine Dupont (left) is good news.
Following confirmation of Fabien Galthie’s 42-man squad for the 2026 Six Nations, here is our take on the key winners and losers from the announcement.
Winners
Antoie Dupont
11 months after his ACL injury, Antoine Dupont will once again be back in the Blue jersey this Six Nations, and the Championship better watch out.
Recovering from an injury like this is always hard, with players often having to change their entire game after making their comebacks, but Dupont has just effortlessly picked up from where he left off.
He is still very much building back to full match-fitness, playing an average of 54 minutes per game across his seven outings for Toulouse, but he seems to have hit the ground running. Dupont played like a man possessed against Sale Sharks last weekend, albeit a rotated side at that, but nonetheless impressive, while he has also shown his usual flicks and tricks ball-in-hand too.
Around that, his return will also give France a genuine figurehead, something that they have missed in his absence, and a side like this needs that.
Matthieu Jalibert
Is this his chance to finally nail down the France number 10 jersey?
There is no doubting Matthieu Jalibert’s brilliance. He has been instrumental in Bordeaux-Begles’ rise to Investec Champions Cup heavyweights in recent seasons, notably in their title triumph last season too, but for whatever reason, it hasn’t quite worked out at Test level. A falling out here, a poor performance there, it just doesn’t seem to have clicked just yet, but this is his chance to properly cement himself in the squad.
His dramatic axing after the England defeat in last year’s Championship seems to have changed him. He still has those trademark flashes of genuine attacking excellence, but it’s more measured, more controlled, more methodical. That could be the missing ingredient. Both Romain Ntamack and Thomas Ramos bring that mix of all-out yet composed attack to the squad, while it has also been reflected in Joris Segonds’ and Antoine Hastoy’s – who made the cut for the New Zealand tour ahead of him – play as well.
With no Ntamack in the discussion this year, either, it seems the perfect time to give him the reins in attack and let him go to town.
Mickaël Guillard
While the focus of many will be on the absence of Gregory Alldritt, it seems Galthie is putting all his eggs in the Mickaël-Guillard-number-eight basket this Six Nations. The powerful Lyon man has been deployed at the book-end of the scrum in each of his previous four Test outings for Les Bleus, notably starting over Alldritt against the Springboks too, but with the La Rochelle man absent from the squad entirely this time around, it seems likely Guillard will continue there for the foreseeable.
While he has spent the bulk of his time at lock in his young career, a shift to eight does seem to suit him well. He offers another genuine big-bopper to their pack, which France certainly like to have, but it then allows the staple pair of Emmanuel Meafou and Thibaud Flament to continue at lock as well. Around that, he is clearly going to be a big part of this French side for years to come, so giving him an extended spell in the starting side does seem to make sense.
Uncapped octet
Aaron Grandidier Nkanang, Tom Staniforth, Temo Matiu, Gregoire Arfeuil, Fabien Brau-Boirie, Gaël Dréan, Noah Nene and Ugo Seunes are all in line to win their first caps for France this Six Nations, after cracking the senior group.
Around that, too, it also shows Galthie is starting to future-proof his squad, giving some fresh faces opportunities within the national side. The fact that some have come in ahead of mainstays might dominate headlines and could even put more pressure on the head coach, but it’s still good to see a decent crop rewarded.
Undecided
Fabien Galthie
This could go one of two ways for Fabien Galthie. On the one hand, if Les Bleus come out with a second-successive title, he looks like a genius, but if they fall short, then he’s made a rod for his own back. He’s dicing with danger in some respect.
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There is very clearly a shift in this squad, represented by the axing of the three previous mainstays and the introduction of eight new faces, but is this the right time to do it?
France head into the Six Nations with huge expectations. Not only are they the defending champions, but they also need to once again establish themselves at the top table after a mixed Autumn Nations Series, so the pressure is certainly on them this Championship.
Again, if they go on to win it, it will reflect incredibly well on Galthie, but it could also backfire massively. We will have to wait and see.
Losers
Axed trio
If you’d have told someone at the end of the 2025 Six Nations that Alldritt, Gaël Fickou (even though he was injured for most of it) and Damian Penaud would not make the squad for the next edition, they would have likely laughed. But, it’s very much the reality now, with the trio being the latest to suffer the wrath of the head coach.
Galthie has not been shy to swing his axe in his tenure in charge of the national side, but these are arguably his biggest calls to date. Yes, there is certainly a question of form with regards to Alldritt, given La Rochelle’s woes, but all three men have been integral parts of the France squad in recent years and would certainly have added another edge to the group this campaign as well.
On top of that, Alldritt and Fickou have captained the side in the absence of Dupont, and while the wizard may be back in the mix, that leadership void created by their omissions will need to be filled from somewhere else now.
Injured stars
France will also be without injured duo Maxime Lucu and the aforementioned Ntamack for at least the early rounds of the Championship, if not the entire campaign. These, too, will serve as a big blow to Galthie, with them being consistent members of the wider 23-man squad when fit, but he will now have to look to alternative options.
