If France, in their blistering 36-14 defeat of Ireland in Paris on Thursday, looked very different from the side beaten 32-17 by the Springboks in the city last November, it’s because it was a very different France that lined up against Ireland.
French coach Fabien Galthie had promised something different after the second-half capitulation to South Africa. His support staff, in media interviews, spoke of having to evolve their game and play with greater pace, maximise space and introduce variety into their play.
This had to be balanced with not making the set-piece vulnerable or secondary.
Galthie backed up those words with action, squad selection, and the style of play that ripped Ireland apart in the first 45 minutes when the hosts led 29-0 and had secured the bonus point try.
Just 11 of the match 23 against South Africa were in Paris on Thursday night, and just five of those 11 started, with the backline completely overhauled for Ireland.
Youth and pace
Galthie opted for youth, pace, and explosiveness in his midfield and on the wings, and this was complemented with the return of France’s inspirational captain and playmaker Antoine Dupont at scrumhalf.
The pack dynamic contrasted with the physical big boys who were asked to negotiate South Africa’s monster pack in Paris. Many of the substitutes from the Boks’ defeat were given starting roles to ensure pace and tempo from the first whistle.
Ireland, their pack tired and two years past their best, could not live with the tempo of the match, especially in those first 50 minutes, and the backs — missing the experience of Bundee Aki, James Lowe, Mack Hansen, Hugo Keenan, and the retired Johnny Sexton — were a mess.
Galthie stunned with his selection of 21-year-old Pau winger Théo Attissogbe in place of Damian Penaud. He said Penaud, France’s try-scoring record holder, had to work on his defence.
The coach trusted 23-year-old Nicolas Depoortère and 25-year-old Yoram Moefana in the midfield, with 20-year-old Kalvin Gourgues as the back-up midfielder.
22 in 22 at 22
Bordeaux’s flying left-winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey is still only 22 years old, and two tries against Ireland took his Test strike rate to 22 in 22 matches.
Bielle-Biarrey is currently the in-form winger in club and international rugby. Matthieu Jalibert is Bordeaux’s No 10 general, and he has been the in-form No 10 in the Investec Champions Cup and French Top 14. He started in the absence of Toulouse’s injured Romain Ntamak, and he did not miss a beat.
Bordeaux, unbeaten in the Investec Champions Cup pool stages, and Toulouse, six-time winners of the Champions Cup, are at the heart of Galthie’s French Six Nations squad.
The quality and depth are the best in the tournament and second only to South Africa in depth. And not by much.
Galthie v Erasmus era
The Springboks have beaten France in nine of their latest 10 match-ups, but in the Galthie v Rassie Erasmus era, which is into its eighth year, the two teams have met just four times, with the Boks winning in 2018 in Paris, France winning in Marseilles in 2022, the Boks winning the biggest one when they eliminated France in the quarterfinal of the 2023 World Cup, and again winning in Paris in 2025.
The two teams meet in Paris in Round 5 of the inaugural Nations Cup on November 13, and this will comfortably be the Boks’ biggest challenge in a year that includes four Test matches against the All Blacks and a home Test to start the season against England at Ellis Park on July 4.
I’m already counting down the sleeps till that match, and the only hope is that the majority of those French players from Thursday night are fit, available, and selected to play the Boks.
France, having played Ireland at home and winning with a bonus point, play England in Paris in the final round of the Six Nations.
It makes them the favourites to retain the title, and it also makes them the biggest northern hemisphere threat to Erasmus’s Boks, despite their historical lack of success against the Boks.
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