France v Wales preview: Even the Welsh’s ‘best and bravest performance’ will be not be enough in a Six Nations ‘hammering’
We preview the opening Six Nations match of 2025 as France host Wales at the Stade de France.
The 2025 Six Nations kicks off at the Stade de France as one of the tournament favourites, France, host a battered Wales outfit in the Championship opener.
Wales are enduring a 12-match losing streak in international rugby after going winless in 2024 and face the almighty task of fronting up against a French side that will be frothing at the mouth not to just win the opening game but the entire tournament.
After watching his dynasty burn to ash in 2024, Warren Gatland is hoping that subtle and not-so-subtle changes will make a world of difference, explaining that he has made alterations to the training schedule while there has been a shake-up in the personnel with late additions and one departure in his backroom staff.
As one of the most successful coaches in the Six Nations‘ history, Gatland knows exactly what is required to be victorious but first, he will need to turn around the proverbial collapse of what was one of the most feared rugby nations.
That will need to start against one of the current top dogs of world rugby, Fabien Galthie‘s France, who head into the tournament off the back of a stunning Autumn Nations Series where they went unbeaten sweeping Japan, New Zealand and Argentina aside.
Strengthened by the return of inspirational and the outright blockbuster talent of Antoine Dupont and his partner in crime, Romain Ntamack, France are well positioned to get their hands on some silverware but will need to avoid the hiccups that have blighted their title runs in recent years.
Where the game will be won
The battle lines will well and truly be drawn in the packs as they usually are. For all of France’s attacking beauty and flair, it’s the pack that lays the foundation and not only at the set-pieces. Having huge battering rams like Emmanuel Meafou and Uini Atonio certainly helps win the gain-line battle, but they are much more delicate than that with most of the pack possessing a well-rounded passing and rucking game too.
In fact, Francois Cros is one of the best examples of that as there are few, if any, players better than the Frenchman at the breakdown whether he is clearing opposition bodies to give Dupont the quick ball that he thrives on or pilfering over to slow the opposition’s ruck speed.
Wales certainly have threats of their own particularly in the form of Jac Morgan and Tommy Reffell and if they are to have any chance, they will need to be on top of their game and get some help from their backs.
The recruitment of ex-Lions prop Adam Jones to take charge of Wales’ scrum is rather telling as the set-piece was a real area of concern for the side and his arrival could not have come any later as not only will France fight in every scrum battle to get an edge but if they do, Thomas Ramos will be lining up a shot goal that he seldom misses.
France’s pack still remains the cornerstone of their game regardless of the sheer brilliance of their backs and if Wales are to have any chance of breaking their winless streak, they need some sort of parity at the very least. If not, then Gatland’s men will merely be a slight speed bump in France’s sprint towards an eleventh title in the Six Nations era.
Last time they met
What they said
Unsurprising, Wales head coach Gatland was asked about the threat that Dupont poses and he did not mince his words.
“You can see why he is one of the best players, if not the best player, in the world,” he said at the Six Nations’ launch.
“Moving to the Sevens, winning the gold medal, and having the impact on that, his ability to hold defences by when he goes forward or backwards or lateral, and then the strength and power and pace. Even though they’ve got some other quality scrum-halves, he’s definitely pretty special.”
Speaking in the build up to the match, Gatland spoke of the attitude of the players as they prepare for the opener as well as the coaching changes and the impact those have made.
“It’s gone really well, the boys have been good. Probably today and over the next couple of days, it’s about coaches taking a step back and allowing the players to lead, take some real ownership over the next couple of days,” he said.
“They’ve been outstanding. They’ve come in and worked hard. There’s been a good buzz around the group. We’ve been really clear in the way we want to attack against France. The boys have been excellent.”
On the coaches, he said: “There’s always times when you’re looking to make some changes. You’re looking at the number of coaches in the group. We’ve added some people into the environment in Adam Jones and Andy McCann. We made the decision that Alex King wasn’t going to be part of the environment for this Six Nations, with Rob leading in that area. Adam has been good, it’s been a different voice. He’s fitted in nicely. He’s been saying there’s not a huge amount of preparation time to prepare a scrum. He’s done a few sessions and has fitted in well.”
Meanwhile, Galthie has welcomed the return of the Dupont-Ntamack axis for the first time in the Les Bleus jersey since before the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
“It’s an old new hinge that has a lot of experience and shared understanding. Antoine and Romain must feel this form of ease, of freedom,” said Galthie.
Players to watch
France have still named a star-studded matchday 23 despite the plethora of injuries that they are contending with which has resulted in a positional switch for Alexandre Roumat. Usually, a back-rower the son of France legend Olivier, Roumat is very much in his father’s mould being a big back-five forward with a huge work-rate and a fantastic lineout operator. He slips into the second-row with Meafou in the absence of Thibaud Flament and will look to continue his fine form from last year that saw him cement a place in the matchday 23.
Moving into the backs and Galthie will be over the moon that Louis Bielle-Biarrey recovered in time to feature in the starting XV. The Bordeaux flyer has been in sensational form, scoring 16 tries in 16 appearances, which includes four for France in the autumn. With Damian Penaud missing this clash, Bielle-Biarrey will be crucial in providing the game-breaking moments for Les Bleus.
You will not be able to keep your eyes off captain Antoine Dupont and subsequently his half-back partner Romain Ntamack, who earns his first Test cap in almost two years. The pair’s understanding of one another on the pitch is nigh-on telepathic and seeing Ntamack reunite with Dupont at the highest level is bound to excite all but the Wales fans.
There is another long-awaited return on the opposition the teamsheet as Josh Adams dons the Wales jersey for the first time since last year’s Six Nations. The Welsh backline lacked strong voices and experience last year and Adams really fits that bill along with fellow returnee and outside back Liam Williams.
Into the pack and Wales have a second-row that certainly has the potential to mix it with the best in the business in the form of Racing 92 star Will Rowlands and the highly-rated prodigy Dafydd Jenkins. The pair have ridiculous work-rates on both sides of the ball and can maintain those standards for a full 80 minutes which may well be required on Friday.
Finally, Gatland has repeatedly rued the lack of depth Wales have in the number 13 jersey in the build-up to the Six Nations which has led him to select workhorse Nick Tompkins in that role. The Saracens man has an incredibly well-rounded skillset but it will be his decision-making with and without the ball that will be crucial against France.
Main head-to-head
While keeping France’s superstar man Dupont quiet will be key in any kind of success that Wales can have, stalling him at source as mentioned above will be crucial. That leads us back to the gain-line and set-piece battle where the charge will certainly be led by the hookers, Peato Mauvaka and Evan Lloyd.
Mauvaka is arguably the form hooker in world rugby right now offering France accurate lineouts, powerful scrummaging, an insane work-rate on defence and box-office attack. It’s hard to think of many hookers as complete as the Frenchman who has been dominating for club and country in recent times.
In the opposing line-up, the story is a lot more different as Wales’ star hooker Dewi Lake is set to miss the entire campaign which has opened the door for Lloyd to make his first start for his country. While impressing for Cardiff, he has yet to really make a huge splash on the international team but there is no better time than the present and his team need him to.
Prediction
Frankly put, Wales don’t just have to catch France cold on Friday to stand a chance but Les Bleus have to be freezing and Gatland’s charges as red-hot as they have been in recent memory. And even then, it’s still a stretch. The odds are stacked against the men in red and even if they produce their best and bravest performance since the World Cup, we cannot see them doing any better than a 20-point hammering as France kick off their campaign in style.
Previous results
2023: France won 45-25 in Cardiff
2023: France won 41-28 in Paris
2022: France won 13-9 in Cardiff
2021: France won 32-30 in Paris
2020: France won 38-21 in Paris
2020: France won 27-23 in Cardiff
2019: Wales won 20-19 in Oita (RWC quarter-final)
2019: Wales won 24-19 in Paris
The teams
France: 15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Théo Attissogbe, 13 Pierre-Louis Barassi, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Antoine Dupont (c), 8 Grégory Alldritt, 7 Paul Boudehent, 6 François Cros, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Alexandre Roumat, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements: 16 Julien Marchand, 17 Cyril Baille, 18 Georges-Henri Colombe, 19 Hugo Auradou, 20 Mickaël Guillard, 21 Oscar Jegou, 22 Nolann Le Garrec, 23 Émilien Gailleton
Wales: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Ben Thomas, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Jac Morgan (c), 6 James Botham, 5 Dafydd Jenkins, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Evan Lloyd, 1 Gareth Thomas
Replacements: 16 Elliot Dee, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 Freddie Thomas, 20 Tommy Reffell, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Dan Edwards, 23 Blair Murray
Date: Friday, January 31
Venue: Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Kick-off: 21:15 local (20:15 GMT)
Referee: Paul Williams (NZR)
Assistant Referee 1: Chris Busby (IRFU)
Assistant Referee 2: Jordan Way (RA)
TMO: Brett Cronan (RA)
FPRO: Damon Murphy (RA)
READ MORE: ‘Unmissable’: Why you just HAVE to visit Murrayfield in style this Six Nations
