France team v All Blacks: Damian Penaud back from brutal axe, Aussie powerhouse debuts and Bordeaux hero ends six-year retirement hiatus
France team: Damian Penaud returns plus rare start for talented full-back to 'excel on global scale'
Fabien Galthié has made some major inclusions in his France line-up for their opening match of the inaugural Nations Championship, against New Zealand.
There’s a rare appearance for 25-year-old full-back Max Spring, who will don the blue jersey for the first time since 2022. His only showings were an uncapped match against the Barbarians and a Test match against Japan a month after. But after impressive performances for Racing 92 this season, he’s once again been given the opportunity to excel on a global scale.
Joining him in the back three will be the vastly experienced Damian Penaud, who returns to action after being brutally axed from the recent Six Nations campaign. Théo Attissogbé retains his place on the left wing.
The centre combination of Yoram Moefana and Fabien Brau-Boirie look to threaten in the midfield, while Bordeaux-Begles half-backs Matthieu Jalibert and Maxime Lucu are set to use their club cohesion to combine at international level.
In the pack, the young and exciting trio of Pierre Bochaton, Oscar Jégou and Marko Gazzotti make up the back-row, while 31-year-old Australia-born lock Tom Staniforth is set to make his debut after shining against England A in June. Young prospect Hugo Auradou will join him in the second-row, while Demba Bamba and Maxime Lamothe make up the front-row alongside the ageing Jefferson Poirot, who ends a six-year international hiatus.
The bench consists of plenty of fresh legs, with young hooker Barnabé Massa set to make his debut, while Reda Wardi and Régis Montagne back him up at the front of the scrum. The powerful Mickaël Guillard returns to make an impact in the second-row. Killian Tixeront also returns to the national squad after some time out, while the backline will benefit from the talented trio of Nolan Le Garrec, Antoine Hastoy and Nicolas Depoortere.
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France team vs All Blacks
France: 15 Max Spring, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Fabien Brau-Boirie, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Théo Attissogbé, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Maxime Lucu (c), 8 Marko Gazzotti, 7 Oscar Jégou, 6 Pierre Bochaton, 5 Tom Staniforth, 4 Hugo Auradou, 3 Demba Bamba, 2 Maxime Lamothe, 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements: 16 Barnabé Massa, 17 Reda Wardi, 18 Régis Montagne, 19 Mickaël Guillard, 20 Killian Tixeront, 21 Nolan Le Garrec, 22 Antoine Hastoy, 23 Nicolas Depoortere
Date: Saturday, 4 July, 2026
Venue: One New Zealand Stadium, Christchurch
Kick-off: 19:10 (local), 08:10 (UK), 09:10 (France), 09:10 (South Africa), 17:10 (AEST), 19:10 (New Zealand), 04:10 (Argentina), 16:10 (JST), 03:10 (EDT)
Referee: Luke Pearce (RFU)
Assistant Referees: Christophe Ridley (RFU) and Katsuki Furuse (JRFU)
TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen (SARU)
FPRO: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)
Broadcasters: ITV (United Kingdom), TF1 (France), Virgin Media Television (Republic of Ireland), Sky Italia (Italy), Wowow (Japan), Sky Sport (New Zealand), Nine Network / Stan Sport (Australia), SuperSport (South Africa)