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Posolo Tuilagi in line to make France debut after late call-up

France's Posolo Tuilagi during the U20 Six Nations Rugby match between England and France at Recreation Ground on March 10, 2023 in Bath, United Kingdom. (Photo by Bob Bradford - CameraSport via Getty Images)

Perpignan’s 19-year-old lock Posolo Tuilagi is in line to make his France debut on Friday against Ireland, after being called up to replace Romain Taofifenua in the matchday squad.

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The 149kg lock will take Taofifenua’s place on the bench at Marseille’s Stade Velodrome in the opening match of the Guinness Six Nations after France confirmed the Lyon lock has failed to recover from an illness.

France shared this statement: “We inform you that Romain Taofifenua has forfeited for the next match due to his state of health.

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“Posolo Tuilagi will replace him on the match sheet.”

After initially failing to make Fabien Galthie’s squad for this year’s Championship, Tuilagi was drafted in to train with the squad. But after missing out on selection, he had been released back to Perpignan, who face Top 14 leaders Racing 92 on Saturday. But his plans have changed again, and he is now set to start on the bench against the reigning Six Nations champions.

The World Rugby U20 Championship winner is in line to become the latest member of the Tuilagi family to play Test rugby, following in the footsteps of his father, Henry Tuilagi, who represented Samoa ten times. Posolo’s selection also opens the door to an enticing clash with his uncle Manu Tuilagi later in the tournament.

The England centre is currently set to miss the start of the Championship with a groin injury, but with France hosting England in the final match of the tournament, there could potentially be two Tuilagis going head-to-head.

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France’s updated team to face Ireland: 15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Gael Fickou, 12 Jonathan Danty, 11 Yoram Moefana, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Maxime Lucu, 8 Gregory Alldritt (c), 7 Charles Ollivon, 6 Francois Cros, 5 Paul Willemse, 4 Paul Gabrillagues, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Cyril Baille
Replacements: 16 Julien Marchand, 17 Reda Wardi, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Posolo Tuilagi, 20 Paul Boudehent, 21 Cameron Woki, 22 Nolann Le Garrec, 23 Louis Bielle-Biarrey

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1 Comment
G
GrandDisse 295 days ago

First cap against the irish pack. Quite the trial by fire..

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Hellhound 20 minutes ago
France put World Cup pain behind them with unbeaten run in November

France is starting to look like they are finally over their WC headache, although they were lucky that NZ had a very bad game. The Argies as usual is one game good, the next bad. If they can sort that out and be more consistent, they could become contenders for the WC.


NZ, Argentina (if they are more consistent), and now the Wallabies too is in an upward curve (can they be consistent?), as well as Fiji(as inconsistent as Argentina) looks like possible contenders. The Boks will be as usual a huge threat to defend their title. Things are looking up for the South, so the North should rightfully beware of the Southern Hemisphere threat.


With the French looking dangerous, the English with their close runs (mostly a mindset problem) and the Scottish seems to be the NH main contenders. The Irish is good, but not excellent anymore. They are more overbearing and with their glory days mostly gone with old players hanging on by a thread, by 2027 if they don't start adding in the younger players, they won't make it past yet another WC Quarter final. The problem is that their youngsters, while good is nothing special.


That is just 8 teams without the Irish that can become real WC contenders. Lots of hickups to be sorted still for these teams, excluding the Boks to become a threat. Make no mistake, the top Tier is much closer than people realise and the 2027 WC will be a really great WC, possibly the best contended WC ever.

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