It’s going to be a hot summer down under for Europe’s top rugby players. The Lions will be Australia for their three-Test series, while on the other side of the Tasman Sea France will play a trio of Test against New Zealand.
Matches between the Bleus and the All Blacks are rarely for the faint-hearted, but the July series could be particularly spicy.
New Zealand aren’t happy that the FFR have indicated they will send a second-string squad as part of their “preparation cycle for the 2027 World Cup with an approach focused on managing the most in-demand players”.
The NZRU expressed its “surprise” when it heard the news at the end of last year. Former All Black great Justin Marshall was more trenchant in his criticism of the decision. “Send your number one team and come and try and beat us in our own backyard,” he said. “We don’t send our B team to play you at the end of the year because our players are tired. We send over our team to knock you over in your own backyard. Now, try and actually see it from our perspective that we want to have that environment.”
One can understand Marshall’s argument. Whenever the Southern Hemisphere teams tour Europe in November they come with the strongest squads available. “If you don’t do that, you’re doing the game an injustice because you’re not treating it with respect,” added Marshall. “We treat you with respect. And I feel that if the French were to use the excuse of a long season and their players are tired, well, you know, that’s just piss poor because we’re exactly the same when we have to go in November, but we front [up].”
There is a counter-argument, however, which France coach Fabien Galthie made in a long interview last week with Le Figaro newspaper. “World Rugby recommends a 2,000-minute season (the equivalent of 25 80-minute matches),” said Galthie.
It’s universally acknowledged that the Top 14 is the most physically demanding league in world rugby. It’s not just the size of the players, but also the length of the championship.
Already, with three months of the season still to run in Europe, several French internationals are nearing this number: flanker Francois Cros has started eighteen times for France and Toulouse, prop Uini Atonio has played 19 games for club and country, and winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey has made 20 starts for Bordeaux and France. “We have defined a policy for managing players in relation to the existing calendar,” explained Galthie. “The internationals have played around 20 matches since the start of the season. They can finish the season at 35 if they play everything… It would be selfish to simply say: ‘I want the best possible team to go and challenge the All Blacks’. What comes first? The health of the players. The show is great, but at what price?”
And that’s the winning argument. Players’ welfare must come before anything else. For too long France flogged their players to death; until a few years ago many of their internationals had to appear for their clubs during Six Nations rest weekends.
It’s also universally acknowledged that the Top 14 is the most physically demanding league in world rugby. It’s not just the size of the players, but also the length of the championship. This season it kicked off on September 7 and the final will take place on June 28, a week before France play the first Test in New Zealand.
In contrast, the Super Rugby seasons lasts four months, allowing participants plenty of rest time, even for those players whose teams reach the final.
Take All Black Damian Mckenzie; after the 2023 World Cup final on October 28, he didn’t play again until round one of 2024 Super Rugby on February 23.
Mckenzie’s Chiefs made it to the final, which, combined with his All Black Tests, meant he started 25 matches all told in 2024. He also appeared off the bench in the final quarter of four Tests for New Zealand. He was substituted in five matches, so he more or less exactly hit the World Cup recommendation of a 2,000 minute season.
As Galthie put it: “I’m willing to leave with the best possible French team, but not at the cost of the players’ health. The All Blacks will have played around 10 matches with their provinces. And they’ll finish their season with 25 games.”
Toulouse fly-half Romain Ntamack said recently that a Test series in New Zealand is a ‘unique’ experience and a ‘dream’ of his.
Several of France’s Six Nations squad this year are likely to tour New Zealand; those players whose clubs won’t feature in the knockout stages of either the Champions Cup or the Top 14: two locks from Lyon in Mickaël Guillard and Romain Taofifenua Pau’s exciting young threequarters’ Theo Attissogbe and Emilien Gailleton, Stade Francais full-back Leo Barre and the Racing 92 pair of centre Gael Fickou and scrum-half Nolann Le Garrec.
But there may be more. Toulouse fly-half Romain Ntamack said recently that a Test series in New Zealand is a ‘unique’ experience and a ‘dream’ of his. His father, Emile, must have told him many times about his part in France’s 2-0 series win in New Zealand in 1994.
Asked subsequently about Ntamack’s comment, Galthie responded: “I told Romain, ‘we’ll see how many minutes you finish the season with, what condition your knee is in and, above all, what recovery period you’ll have afterwards’.”
According to Midi Olympique, other experienced players have ‘expressed their desire’ to Galthie to tour New Zealand. As a former international, Galthie will understand their wish to challenge themselves in arguably the toughest rugby environment on earth. Nonetheless, he (and by extension the FFR) doesn’t want to antagonise the clubs by taking their prized assets on a tour that finishes on July 19, seven weeks before the start of the 2025-26 Top 14 season.
But Galthie will also be aware of the invaluable experience a three-Test series in New Zealand will bring to his squad. Of the twelve defeats France have suffered since Galthie became coach in 2019, eight were by two points or fewer. In other words, his French team rarely lose heavily but it’s crucial to start turning those narrow defeats into narrow victories before the 2027 RWC. “We’re working on this psychological balance of power, which is a factor in our progress,” said Galthie. “This will remain a guiding principle until 2027.”
Given the strength in depth in French rugby, Justin Marshall need not worry. The French will front up.
Surely, then, it would be beneficial to take the strongest squad possible to New Zealand while adhering as closely as possible to the 2,000 minutes guideline. What a learning experience, physically and psychologically. In contrast, what would be the point of taking a callow French squad to New Zealand to be ripped apart? It would be detrimental to France, and to the image of international rugby.
One suspects that Galthie is too proud a Frenchman to allow that to happen. He’ll take a strong squad to New Zealand, perhaps with three or four top names left at home to rest. Given the strength in depth in French rugby, Justin Marshall need not worry. The French will front up.
News, stats, live rugby and more! Download the new RugbyPass app on the App Store (iOS) and Google Play (Android) now!
Top 14 is just to long but the comp is big money extremely popular high standard can’t hate…yup it will hurt France with cohesion not that many tests till WC but you would expect them to be rolling nonetheless in 27..go ABs
"Hello, my name is Edward R. Michelle, and I'm a resident of Arkansas, originally from Atlanta, Georgia, with a prior residence in Houston, Texas. I've been through a challenging experience, having lost everything I worked hard for due to a scam.
Fortunately, two weeks ago, I stumbled upon online testimonials about Cyberspace HackPro, and I reached out for their assistance. To my surprise, they successfully recovered my stolen funds just two days ago!
Initially, I was skeptical, fearing I'd fallen victim to another scam. However, Cyberspace HackPro proved to be genuine, and they recovered the full amount of $253,129, returning it to my wallet.
I'm grateful for their expertise and professionalism. If you've been a victim of a scam, I highly recommend contacting Cyberspace HackPro immediately. They're trustworthy and effective.
Sincerely,
Edward R. Michelle"
Contact info
Email: Cyberspacehackpro(@)rescueteam.com
https://cyberspacehackpro0.wixsite.com/cyberspacehackpro
WhatsApp +1 (559) 508 (2403)
A lot of inaccuracies in this article.
Using Galthie’s maths and extrapolating the numbers, going to NZ would put Cros at 1700 minutes, Antonio at 1300, and LBB at 2200. 2200 is a perfectly fine number for a back to be at considering it’s what Marcus Smith and Freeman will do/did, while Itoje had 2500 minutes last season.
And at world cups when the pressure comes on France fall apart. They constantly have blow-ups with their team mates and sometimes, like 2011, with their coaches, and then they lose. They dont tour together so dont handle world cups when locked as a team for 6 weeks. Do what you like France but 1/ you will never win a WC until you know how to tour for 6 weeks together and 2/ you are devaluing test rugby and making it easy for others to do it to you in the future. Just dont be all shocked and offended when it comes back at you.
France were inaugural finalists. They beat NZ in ‘99 and ‘07. Apart from Australia in 1991 no team has ever beaten NZ and gone on to win the tournament. England pulled out the match of the tournament in 2003 to beat France in a brilliant semi. They are playing in a tournament where the draw and scheduling consistently favours traditional incumbant teams like England and New Zealand. Last RWC where they had a team worthy of winning a RWC they were drawn to play a top 2 team, the then reigning champions in the Quarter Final. If SA would have chosen which knock out match to play France they would have bit hands off for QF. SA had 100s of RWC knock out winning caps in their squad. France had zero.
So before all the theorizing on France’s failures lets try to have a fair draw and scheduling and an even playing field. Making 3 finals and knocking NZ out twice is not bad when you are constantly made play against the wind.
Since 2009, any “full strengh “ France side visit NZ. In 2007 a B/C team was hammered in june , in october a A team beat the All Blacks for the WC. So what is new this year ? I think Galthie should have said nothing, Dupont is injuried, nobody in NZ would have noted a différence…..
Fair comment but there may be some other benefits here in developing depth that could enable them to make progress towards their wc levels.
Another solution would be to move the schedule a week later - there’s a month long break before the Rugby Championship so why would the NZRU schedule the first game in conflict with a major club final?
Once you remove the scheduling issue - it becomes purely about player welfare and that’s the French unions issue to deal with. The whole idea of becoming the best team is moot if you cede all your national power to a club competition.
Professional sports make their money on the club game. NZR haven’t figured that out yet and are stuck in the amateur age when the international game was the pinnacle. Look at football, the NRL, basketball and other team sports. All the money’s in the club game because it runs all season. The French are the only ones in rugby who understand that it seems.
The international game is nice to have for most. Even in a global sport like football, the countries that have the numbers usually win WC and continental cups. As a football player, one of the top 5 leagues is the highest you can achieve. For players from smaller nations it means playing at a higher level (in terms of skills needed, tactics) than they ever would in their national team. It pays more too and the crowds are bigger than most national teams get. It’s happening to rugby in France. Toulouse fielded a Belgian and a Spaniard v Bordeaux last weekend. Their national teams aren’t near as good as Toulouse. It’s the highest they can achieve. The French model is spreading across Europe in rugby. No tier 2 nations in the REC has a model similar to NZ, Australia or Ireland. All have full round robin, season long club competitions with many semi-pro clubs and the number is growing.
World rugby moved the mid year test window, and what do you think the clubs did, extended their season by the same amount, the club federation does not care about test rugby, and while this continues the French will never win a world cup.
They’ve dealt with it. Period. Unfortunately the NZ fans are bleating.
It would surely be France’s choice. They 1) didn’t think to talk to, or take, their top players in the first place, and 2) ALL their players want at least a half decent holiday (where other countries’players get an ‘off’ season) so that means getting back ASAP.
Not NZR’s problem, its the FRU’s. They should’ve brought up that issue when scheduling matches and coordinating, not the other way around. Besides, it the Frenchies own fault at the end of the day.
I am not really sure how this tour benefits France beyond showing NZ ways to beat them. They already know how to beat NZ.
Ireland won a series there in 2022 which prompted a year long shift in strategy to specifically beat Ireland. This was confirmed recently by Will Jordan.
Winning tight matches isn’t necessarily about psychology. It’s about having weapons to get over the line. For SA that was a scrum to win penalties and a kicker to either kick the penalty over or down the line if a try is needed. See SA v England in 2023 SF.
England used their jacklers to win penalties to get them deep into the 22 a couple of times late against France. Ireland improvised with drop kicks to win versus SA.
NZ spent decades fretting over choking in RWCs. Their strategy was often to develop such an outstanding team that pressure wouldn’t come into it. All they needed to do (France 99, 07) was to use some of their prep to learn how to neuter their opponents.
NZ have learned that lesson well and it should have gotten them a RWC win in ‘23 after knocking Ireland out. They will do the same against France or attempt to.
It doesn’t matter with SA v NZ because those teams are set up to beat/not lose against each other.
I don’t see NZ whipping the French second string and there is no benefit in showing NZ their hand.
I don’t agree with the image of International Rugby or respect comment. International Rugby should put all their focus on expanding the game (Tier 2) which was the supposed purpose of a RWC not as a status symbol for Tier1As.
No offense to Marshall and NZ, but if they demand respect they should give some too. Ireland certainly were not respected after their 22 series win and France won’t be either.
Haha… Not respected? NZR coaches spent many many hours finding how to beat them. Thats respect.
Well that’s rubbish, Ireland were lauded in NZ and considered the far better team over the 3 tests, so stop making your own facts up.
Just on that last comment of yours:
Ireland were absolutely more respected after that game. Nobody cared when Ireland came to NZ, nobody acknowledged them either to be frank. But once they won, oh boy now everybody knew Ireland were a serious contender.
You think Australians and Kiwis and Saffas don’t respect each other? Because we do chat a bit of shite online to each other, but there is still a great deal of respect.
Everybody respected Ireland up until they choked another QF after hyping themselves up for about a year and a half.
Did Ireland beat the All Blacks after the 22 series?
Wasn’t it the Irish who were patting themselves on the back at the RWC after their pool victory over South Africa telling them they will see them again in the Finals overlooking their QF vs the All Blacks?
If you are going to lecture NZ on respect then don’t live in a glass house, Red.
You say that winning isnt about psychology and then cite the NZ teams that lost at world cups because they were fretting about choking. Psychology is absolutely part of a winning strategy - its the ability to know that you can come back from adversity because you have trust in the “weapons” that you talk about. Its the difference between chasing someone down or saying “I’m beaten" - there’s no point”
Some very interesting points in your post.
There are 14 pro teams in France’s top league. So what if the players from the top 2 are unavailable. That is 12 teams to choose 33 players from to tour NZ.
France had over 50 players play test rugby in 2024 so there will be no shortage of capped players to choose from as France has 3 test quality players at every forward position and in the midfield and outside backs.
It is only 9 and 10 where France may lack test quality depth. Antione Dupont, who is the only French player who is clearly the best at his position, is unavailable to tour regardless.
After the 3rd team you starting getting into those with negative for and against records.
It is basically only a 2 team comp these days, with a third for testing yourselves.
Serin?
So before you even begin to look at the issues behind this, it’s surprising that anyone in NZ was surprised a less than full strength French squad would turn up. The dates alone indicates this was always going to be the case, with the first test to be played a week after the Top14 final.
Galthie would love nothing better than to head south with a full squad at his disposal but the issue here is the French league set up, it’s duration and the contractual power of the club owners, via the LNR. They have the final say on player availability and since they also fund the clubs and player wages, it’s their call to make. Again, this won’t be news to NZR.
So really, if there are questions to be answered here, they need to be pointed as much at NZR as anyone else.
What the? It's a June test series in the International calendar doh! France knew when they took the invite. They did the same thing last time and that was ages ago. Has France asked for different dates? Nope heard nothing here As for this assumption that a second string France squad would probably win here? Lost to them by 1 point at home with all their stars. Gaulthie might well be aware of this.
No, they don’t.
Well written and balanced article explaining both arguments and specific constraints.