{"id":310819,"date":"2026-02-22T02:51:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T02:51:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/310819\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T02:51:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T02:51:07","slug":"matthieu-jalibert-blow-for-france-sees-galthie-reshuffle-backline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/310819\/","title":{"rendered":"Matthieu Jalibert blow for France sees Galthie reshuffle backline"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

France<\/a> have been forced into a late reshuffle ahead of their third Six Nations<\/a> outing after Matthieu Jalibert<\/a> was ruled out of Sunday\u2019s clash with Italy<\/a> in Lille.<\/p>\n

Fabien Galthi\u00e9\u2019s unbeaten side had been due to line up with the Bordeaux<\/a> B\u00e8gles man pulling the strings at fly-half, but the French Rugby Federation (FFR) confirmed on Saturday evening that the 27-year-old will play no part.<\/p>\n

Initially, no specific reason for his withdrawal has been given. In a brief statement the FFR said: \u201cUnfortunately, Matthieu Jalibert has to declare himself out for the match against Italy. He is replaced in the starting XV by Ga\u00ebl Dr\u00e9an, who will honour his first cap with the France XV.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, the player himself took to X to assure fans, writing: \u201cA slight discomfort in my calf forces me to withdraw from tomorrow\u2019s match. Thank you for your messages, I\u2019ll be fully behind my teammates!\u201d<\/p>\n

The news is a significant blow for Les Bleus, with the 27-times-capped Jalibert having become one of his country\u2019s leading stars in the absence of the injured Romain Ntamack. Rumours of a rift between Galthi\u00e9 and Jalibert have been doing the rounds since the No.10 voluntarily left France camp last year after an apparent falling out, but there\u2019s nothing to suggest his withdrawal is anything other than a calf issue. <\/p>\n

It forces Galthi\u00e9\u2019s hand. A new-look backline has now been named on the eve of the match at the Stade Pierre Mauroy, with Ga\u00ebl Dr\u00e9an stepping into the starting XV on the wing, where he will win his first cap.<\/p>\n

The 25-year-old has impressed at club level with Toulon<\/a> with his pace and finishing ability and is viewed as one of the more explosive up-and-coming outside backs in the Top 14.<\/p>\n

The reshuffle sees Toulouse\u2019s Thomas Ramos<\/a> move to the No.10 jersey, with Th\u00e9o Attissogbe moving to fullback. The midfield pairing of Fabien Brau-Boirie and \u00c9milien Gailleton remains intact, while Louis Bielle-Biarrey<\/a> provides his usual threat on the left wing.<\/p>\n

The match kicks off at 3.10pm UK time.<\/p>\n

Updated France team:
1. Jean-Baptiste Gros<\/a>, 2. Julien Marchand<\/a>, 3. Dorian Aldegheri<\/a>, 4. Thibaud Flament<\/a>, 5. Emmanuel Meafou<\/a>, 6. Fran\u00e7ois Cros, 7. Oscar Jegou<\/a>, 8. Anthony Jelonch<\/a>, 9. Antoine Dupont<\/a> (c), 10. Thomas Ramos<\/a>, 11. Louis Bielle-Biarrey<\/a>, 12. Fabien Brau-Boirie, 13. \u00c9milien Gailleton, 14. Ga\u00ebl Dr\u00e9an, 15. Th\u00e9o Attissogbe; 16. Peato Mauvaka<\/a>, 17. Rodrigue Neti<\/a>, 18. Georges-Henri Colombe<\/a>, 19. Charles Ollivon<\/a>, 20. Micka\u00ebl Guillard, 21. L\u00e9o Nouchi, 22. Baptiste Serin<\/a>, 23. Pierre-Louis Barassi<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"France have been forced into a late reshuffle ahead of their third Six Nations outing after Matthieu Jalibert…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":310820,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112],"class_list":["post-310819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310819","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=310819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310819\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/310820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=310819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=310819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=310819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}