France name team for mouthwatering battle with All Blacks

France have named their side to take on Ian Foster’s All Blacks in what’s been widely billed as potentially the best game of the Autumn Nations Series.

Fabien Galthie has made six changes to the starting XV that will face the New Zealanders at the Stade de France. The men in black are coming off a bitter loss to Ireland in Dublin and will no doubt be fired up against a French side that has that has been playing some of the best attacking rugby on the planet in the last two seasons.

“The France team we are presenting to you today is the best at the moment,” said Galthié this morning. “We wanted to increase the density, but without forgetting to be able to control ourselves, with and without the ball while being able to move quickly. There is something set in stone in the decision of the moment; after rugby, a combat sport, we sometimes have to modify our composition ”.

Freddie Burns | All Access

Freddie Burns | All Access

Earlier this week Galthie said that his side would not be using the Ireland game as a blue print for beating New Zealand.

“Ireland have their own rugby, their own game. We can’t copy Ireland. We haven’t got the same players nor the same rugby as them,” Galthie said after his side’s 41-15 victory over Georgia in Bordeaux last weekend. “They were able to play a fantastic match. There’s no superlative available to describe their performance.

“Despite that, the result was in the balance before a try [scored by Akira Ioane] was turned down by the referee decision for a forward pass [thrown by Rieko Ioane]. It tells us a lot about Saturday’s opponents.”

???? ?? ??? ??? ! Votre #XVdeFrance qui défiera les @allblacks samedi soir à 21h au @StadeFrance !

On a hâte d'y être et vous ? ?
????? ??? ????? !#FRANZL #NeFaisonsXV pic.twitter.com/7laBWbHBq9

— France Rugby (@FranceRugby) November 18, 2021

FRANCE TEAM VS NEW ZEALAND:
15. Melvyn Jaminet; 14. Damian Penaud, 13. Gael Fickou, 12. Jonathan Danty, 11. Gabin Villière; 10. Romain Ntamack, 9. Antoine Dupont; 8. Gregory Alldritt, 7. Francois Cros, 6. Anthony Jelonch, 5. Paul Willemse, 4. Cameron Woki, 3. Uini Antonio, 2. Peato Mauvaka 1. Cyril Baille.

REPLACEMENTS: 16. Gaëtan Barlot, 17. Jean-Baptiste Gros, 18. Demba Bamba, 19. Thibaud Flament, 20. Dylan Cretin, 21. Maxime Lucu, 23. Mathieu Jailbert