{"id":642358,"date":"2026-06-16T21:44:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T21:44:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/642358\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T21:44:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T21:44:13","slug":"predicted-france-xv-team-v-england-galthie-to-experiment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/642358\/","title":{"rendered":"Predicted France XV team v England: Galthi\u00e9 to ‘experiment’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Ahead of France XV\u2019s game against England XV on Friday, here is how we think Fabien Galthi\u00e9\u2019s side will line up at the Stade de la Rabine in Vannes.<\/p>\n

With the Top 14 play-offs ongoing, Galthi\u00e9 has named a much-changed 28-man squad for the uncapped fixture, but he is able to call on a number of his Bordeaux-Begles contingent following their shock eighth-placed finish. Among that cohort are the returning Nicolas Depoortere and Jefferson Poirot, who comes into the France squad for the first time since 2019.<\/p>\n

While the bulk of his squad comes from the back-to-back Investec Champions Cup champions, the head coach has also called in a number of in-form youngsters from across the Top 14 as he looks to kick-start the next generation of his Test side.<\/p>\n

Backline<\/p>\n

A lot of the experimentation could come within France\u2019s back-three unit, with only Th\u00e9o Attissogbe boasting Test caps from the initial group. But, as alluded to above, it gives Galthi\u00e9 the chance to have a proper look at some other faces to widen his depth chart. The aforementioned Attissogbe is likely to keep his spot on the wing from the Six Nations, which opens the door for Toulon man Mathis Fert\u00e9 to slot in at full-back. Elsewhere, Christian Ambadiang could also be given a go in the run-on group, given his impressive form for Castres this season.<\/p>\n

England squad: Winners and losers amid Ben Spencer\u2019s \u2018massive risk\u2019 while harshly overlooked duo \u2018finally\u2019 get their chance<\/a><\/p>\n

Galthi\u00e9<\/a> has previously utilised club connections within his centre partnership, which suggests UBB duo Depoortere and Yoram Moefana will get a start this weekend as they did at times in the Six Nations. This combination also gives France that silky blend of outright punch and power at 12 alongside some game-breaking quality at 13, which has proved so effective for them in recent Championships.<\/p>\n

The half-back pairing will also likely be a club one, too, with La Rochelle duo Antoine Hastoy and Nolann le Garrec in line to start given their Test experience. This is also a big chance for both men to really prove a point to Galthi\u00e9, too, with both men falling behind the likes of Matthieu Jalibert, Romain Ntamack, Maxime Lucu and Antoine Dupont in their respective positional depth charts.<\/p>\n

You would also expect Les Bleus to operate a 6:2 split on the bench, as they have done across the past few years, and that could allow Baptiste Jauneau to get some precious gametime at this level, while Pau\u2019s Fabien Brau-Boirie could also feature here as well.<\/p>\n

Pack<\/p>\n

Again, while France\u2019s<\/a> pack was a real point of strength during the Six Nations, there could be some new combinations within this starting group come Friday.<\/p>\n

Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n

The all-UBB combination of Marko Gazzotti, Temo Matiu and Pierre Bochaton seem the likely front-runners to form the back-row, even with Micka\u00ebl Guillard having spent time at number eight in recent Test outings. Crucially, they have all been in and around the senior France group in the past few years, and all boast Test caps as a result, and that will be very important against an England group containing Ben Earl and Tom Curry.<\/p>\n

As mentioned above, their existing club understanding is also a major tick in their box to slot into the starting unit, and as proved at club level this year, they also play a style that Galthi\u00e9 likes from his back-rowers. Killian Tixeront and Esteban Capilla could be options to come onto the bench, with them able to shift across the unit as necessary.<\/p>\n

France name Bordeaux-dominated squad to host England A, including prop last selected in 2020 and uncapped winger of Cameroonian descent<\/a><\/p>\n

Towering Lyon man Guillard was listed in France\u2019s initial squad announcement as a lock, rather than a back-rower, which suggests he is set to start in the engine room this weekend. Who partners him is a good debate, but Tom Staniforth seems in pole position there, with Boris Palu likely taking a spot on the bench. Again, Staniforth\u2019s existing club connections with the rest of the Bordeaux contingent is a big tick in his box, and he also adds another big bopper into their squad to add onto Guillard\u2019s power in the tight. A scary combination.<\/p>\n

Returning loosehead Poirot also seems likely to be brought straight into the run-on group, and comes into the game in red-hot form following his Investec Champions Cup exploits with Bordeaux. He should also be joined by clubmate Maxime Lamothe at hooker, with R\u00e9gis Montagne starting at tighthead.<\/p>\n

Galthi\u00e9 could also look to deploy Barnab\u00e9 Massa, Reda Wardi and Emerick Setiano from the bench as well.<\/p>\n

Predicted France XV team in full<\/p>\n

Starting XV: 15 Mathis Fert\u00e9, 14 Christian Ambadiang, 13 Nicolas Depoortere, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Th\u00e9o Attissogbe, 10 Antoine Hastoy, 9 Nolann Le Garrec, 8 Marko Gazzotti, 7 Temo Matiu, 6 Pierre Bochaton, 5 Micka\u00ebl Guillard, 4 Tom Staniforth, 3 R\u00e9gis Montagne, 2 Maxime Lamothe, 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements:\u00a016 Barnab\u00e9 Massa, 17 Reda Wardi, 18 Emerick Setiano, 19 Boris Palu, 20 Killian Tixeront, 21 Esteban Capilla, 22 Baptiste Jauneau, 23 Fabien Brau-Boirie<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Predicted England XV team v France: Steve Borthwick to \u2018throw the dice\u2019 with Benhard Janse van Rensburg primed for start<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ahead of France XV\u2019s game against England XV on Friday, here is how we think Fabien Galthi\u00e9\u2019s side…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":642359,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[309,89610,242,819,348,3482,50,5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-642358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-england","tag-fabien-galthie","tag-features","tag-france","tag-home-page","tag-internationals","tag-news","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=642358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642358\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/642359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=642358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=642358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=642358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}