{"id":278481,"date":"2026-02-03T12:19:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T12:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/278481\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T12:19:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T12:19:10","slug":"antoine-dupont-heads-bold-regenerated-france-for-ireland-six-nations-clash-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/278481\/","title":{"rendered":"Antoine Dupont heads bold, regenerated France for Ireland Six Nations clash \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

After the shock omission of three stalwarts from his Six Nations<\/a> squad, France<\/a> head coach Fabien Galthi\u00e9 has unveiled a largely predictable selection for Thursday night\u2019s opener against Ireland<\/a> at the Stade de France. <\/p>\n

This includes a mobile if powerful pack, the talismanic Antoine Dupont at scrumhalf, a Bordeaux-B\u00e8gles 10-13 with Mathieu Jalibert at outhalf, and a 6-2 bench.<\/p>\n

In the absence two November Test captains in Ga\u00ebl Fickou and Gr\u00e9gory Alldritt, as well as France\u2019s all-time leading try scorer Damian Penaud, Dupont will captain a side.<\/p>\n

The only variation from the team which trained as a unit in front of journalists at their Marcoussis base last week is the inclusion of Dorian Aldegheri at tighthead prop, named ahead of R\u00e9gis Montagne as had been expected in recent days. The Toulouse player is the more experienced of the two with 22 caps and is also more proven scrummager.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Sam and Cian Prendergast to start for Ireland against FranceOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The more mobile Micka\u00ebl Guillard has been chosen ahead of Toulouse bulwark Emmanuel Meafou, whose physicality has been kept in reserve. <\/p>\n

As forecast, the tireless tackling of Francois Cros has been accommodated despite only playing three games this season. His Toulouse clubmate Anthony Jelonch is at eight, with talented La Rochelle flanker Oscar Jegou completing the backrow.<\/p>\n

Dupont returns to the team for the first time since suffering an ACL injury in the game against Ireland in last year\u2019s Six Nations. Alongside him, Galthi\u00e9 has placed his trust in Jalibert, recognising his brilliant club form this season. The game-breaking outhalf hasn\u2019t always enjoyed the trust of his coach, or the French public, but given the relative bluntness of the French attack last November, his return in tandem with Dupont could prove transformative.<\/p>\n

He also has the familiarity of Bordeaux team-mates Yoram Moefana and Nicolas Depoortere in the centre and winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey, the competition\u2019s leading try scorer last year, while Toulouse\u2019s Thomas Ramos starts at fullback.<\/p>\n

\"MatthieuMatthieu Jalibert in action for France against England during last year’s Six Nations. Photograph: Billy Stickland\/Inpho <\/p>\n

In the absence of Penaud, opportunity knocks for Pau winger Th\u00e9o Attissogbe despite the 21-year-old only playing four games since his return from injury.<\/p>\n

The bench includes Montpellier\u2019s Lenni Nouchi, Toulon scrumhalf Baptiste Serin (in the absence of the injured Maxime Lucu), and 20-year-old Toulouse centre Kalvin Gourgues, who made an eye-catching debut against Australia in November.<\/p>\n

Galthi\u00e9 has overhauled his French team from the Autumn Internationals, with eight changes to the starting XV which beat the Wallabies 44-33.<\/p>\n

While Fickou, Alldritt and Penaud were not selected, and Lucu, Thibaud Flament and Romain Ntamack are sidelined, with the France head coach opting for an injection of youth in his matchday team.<\/p>\n

The inclusion of Attissogbe, Jegou and Depoortere marks something of a new era, while Les Bleus have also recalled the experience of Cros and Aldegheri. The matchday 23 to face Ireland features 13 new faces compared to the autumn internationals, with the side\u2019s average age dropping to 26.5.<\/p>\n

\"\"Can rugby take off in America?<\/p>\n

Ramos is the oldest back at 30 and Ollivon is the oldest forward at 32.<\/p>\n

With a core of six payers from Toulouse and four from Bordeaux-B\u00e8gles \u2013 the clubs who have contested the last two Top14 finals, as well as a Champions Cup final and semi-final \u2013 this is a bold, regenerated and exciting selection.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s particularly buoyed by the return of Dupont, who has been showing much of his old brilliance with Toulouse over the last two months.<\/p>\n

France (v Ireland): Thomas Ramos; Th\u00e9o Attissogbe, Nicolas Depoortere, Yoram Moefana, Louis Bielle-Biarrey; Matthieu Jalibert, Antoine Dupont (capt); Jean-Baptiste Gros, Julien Marchand, Dorian Aldegheri; Charles Ollivon, Michael Guillard, Francois Cros, Oscar Jegou, Anthony Jelonch.<\/p>\n

Replacements: Peato Mauvaka, Rodrigue Neti, R\u00e9gis Montagne, Hugo Auradou, Emmanuel Meafou, Lenni Nouchi, Baptiste Serin, Kalvin Gourgues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After the shock omission of three stalwarts from his Six Nations squad, France head coach Fabien Galthi\u00e9 has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":278482,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1452,61,60,1449,43,15551],"class_list":["post-278481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-france-rugby","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-ireland-rugby","tag-news","tag-six-nations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=278481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/278482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=278481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=278481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=278481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}