Wales v France: how Les Bleus are shaping up for Cardiff
Injuries and returns after their Six Nations’ opening night win against Ireland mean France have some decisions to make in the days before they face Wales
A new-look centre partnership? A key player returning to the second row? Which France squad will turn up for their second Six Nations outing in Wales this weekend?
The English-language rugbyrati worked very hard to sell Fabien Galthie’s pre-Six Nations’ decision to drop Gael Fickou, Damian Penaud and Gregory Alldritt as ‘a gamble’. It wasn’t. He had legitimate rugby reasons for all three.
Nor were his resulting selection choices for last Thursday’s opening Six Nations match against Ireland ‘an experiment’ — Bordeaux centre Nicolas Depoortere, Pau winger Theo Attissogbe and Lyon forward Mickael Guillard are all well-known quantities in France, with the better part of 300 top-flight appearances between them.
That’s all old news — 36-14 history. All that matters to the France squad now is Wales on Sunday afternoon.
