The big boss Fabien Galthié and his assistants have repeated it well in recent weeks. The first list of 42 players announced this Wednesday to prepare for the World Cup at home (September 8 – October 28) is set to evolve according to injuries and mishaps. A player like Toulouse 3rd line Anthony Jelonch, for example, who has been treating a knee for four months, can very well reinstate her this summer to become part of the final list of 33 elected officials, revealed on August 21.
That said, this initial workforce review does not really present any surprises, and executives like Antoine Dupont, Romain Ntamack or Grégory Alldritt are of course part of it. Behind the untouchable captain Dupont, three scrum halves were retained: his traditional understudy Maxime Lucu (Union Bordeaux-Bègles), Baptiste Couilloud (Lyon) and Baptiste Serin (Toulon).
Bielle-Biarrey and Gailleton, expected pledges
The 29-year-old Varois has gradually returned to the radars of coaches, thanks to a very high level season with the RCT. Ditto for La Rochelle back Brice Dulin (33), dean of the group with his teammate Uini Atonio. For Serin as for Dulin, the last selection dates back more than two years and the defeat at home against Scotland (23-27) at the end of the 2021 Six Nations Tournament. An error from the second had cost the victory to the Blues, and had permanently penalized him.
As expected, the young Louis Bielle-Biarrey (UBB), 20-year-old rear-winger, and the youngest Emilien Gailleton (Pau), 19-year-old center and top scorer in the Top 14 (14 tries) are also expected on July 2 at Monaco, where the preparation of the XV of France will begin.
The duo had not been selected to compete in the Under-20 World Cup (from June 24 to July 14 in South Africa) in order to move up to the “big guys”. The two youngest of the 42 are part of the four players with zero selection, with the pillar of Oyonnax Thomas Laclayat (25 years old) and the 3rd line of La Rochelle Paul Boudehent (23 years old). Also note the presence of Arthur Vincent (23), center or winger from Montpellier who has seen his last two seasons rotten by serious knee injuries.