France head coach Fabien Galthie has made two changes to his starting XV to face Wales, with centre duo Émilien Gailleton and Fabien Brau-Boirie replacing the injured Yoram Moefana and Nicolas Depoortère. 

The Pau pairing are also among five changes to the wider 23-man squad for their trip to the Principality Stadium on Sunday, with Maxime Lamothe, Thibaud Flament and Noah Nene coming onto the bench.

As a result, Brau-Boirie will win his first senior cap for Les Bleus, while Nene could also make his maiden Test appearance should he come on.

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With the changes to the starting XV both coming in midfield, that leaves Galthie with a steady backline combination after their 36-14 win over Ireland in round one. Thomas Ramos continues at full-back, with Théo Attissogbe and two-try hero Louis Bielle-Biarrey named in the back-three, while Matthieu Jalibert and Antoine Dupont continue their flourishing partnership in the halves.

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Up front, Galthie has also named an unchanged pack. Anthony Jelonch, Oscar Jegou and François Cros again form a tasty back-row, with last week’s Player of the Match Mickaël Guillard joining Charles Ollivon in the locks. Dorian Aldegheri, Julien Marchand and Jean-Baptiste Gros again feature in the front-row.

Lamothe, Flament and Nene also join Rodrigue Neti, Regis Montagne, Emmanuel Meafou, Lenni Nouchi and Baptiste Serin on a 6:2 bench.

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France team v Wales in full

Starting XV: 15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Théo Attissogbe, 13 Émilien Gailleton, 12 Fabien Brau-Boirie, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Antoine Dupont (c), 8 Anthony Jelonch, 7 Oscar Jegou, 6 François Cros, 5 Mickaël Guillard, 4 Charles Ollivon, 3 Dorian Aldegheri, 2 Julien Marchand, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements: 16 Maxime Lamothe, 17 Rodrigue Neti, 18 Regis Montagne, 19 Thibaud Flament, 20 Emmanuel Meafou, 21 Lenni Nouchi, 22 Baptiste Serin, 23 Noah Nene

Date: Sunday, 15 February, 2026
Venue: Principality Stadium, Cardiff
Referee: James Doleman (NZR)
Assistant Referees: Christophe Ridley (RFU), Sam Grove-White (SRU)
TMO: Richard Kelly (NZR)
FPRO: Mike Adamson (SRU)

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