Injuries sustained in the Top 14 have forced France boss Fabien Galthie to make two changes to his squad for the three-match November campaign that starts against the Springboks on November 8.
Galthie’s 2025 Six Nations champions are due to take on Rassie Erasmus’ back-to-back Rugby World Cup winners in Paris, followed by other matches against Fiji and Australia.
It was October 24 when Galthie originally named his France squad of 42, but he has now had to amend it following the club injuries picked up by Bordeaux’s Matthieu Jalibert and Racing’s Romain Taofifenua.
A first choice pick at Rugby World Cup 2023, Jalibert started just once in the Six Nations earlier this year, featuring at No.10 in the round two loss to England, but his recent excellent club form was set to see the Champions Cup winner join up with France with an added pep in his step.
“I don’t have much hope”
However, that ambition was scuppered on Saturday night when he limped to the touchline near the finish of Bordeaux’s 41-12 win over Bayonne. Asked post-game about his thigh injury and what it meant for his French call-up, he told reporters: “Honestly, I don’t have much hope.”
Jalibert’s worst fears were confirmed on Sunday when the French confirmed his unavailability and the call-up instead of uncapped Racing player Ugo Seunes.
The 24-year-old is a Top 14 newcomer, having only moved to Paris for PRO D2 Aurillac in the summer, but he has quickly become Racing’s first choice 10, and that form has now taken him into the French set-up following his role in the 15-10 win over Pau.
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It was a case of one player in, one player out for the Racing club, however, as Seunes’ call-up was accompanied by confirmation that second-row Taofifenua was no longer a France option.
He lasted only 32 minutes of his club’s Top 14 fixture and his spot in Galthie’s Test squad has gone to Baptiste Pesenti, the Stade Francais player last capped in July 2024.
France squad (updated)
Forwards: Benjamin Bertrand (Toulouse), Baptiste Erdocio (Montpellier), Jean-Baptiste Gros (Toulon), Guillaume Cramont (Toulouse), Julien Marchand (Toulouse), Barnabe Massa (Clermont), Dorian Aldegheri (Toulouse), Thomas Laclayat (Pau), Regis Montagne (Clermont), Emerick Setiano (Bayonne), Hugo Auradou (Pau), Thibaud Flament (Toulouse), Mickael Guillard (Lyon), Jimi Maximin (Pau), Emmanuel Meafou (Toulouse), Baptiste Pesenti (Stade Français), Gregory Alldritt (La Rochelle), Paul Boudehent (La Rochelle), Esteban Capilla (Bayonne), Alexandre Fischer (Bayonne), Oscar Jegou (La Rochelle), Anthony Jelonch (Toulouse), Pierre Bochaton (Bordeaux-Begles), Cameron Woki (Bordeaux-Begles)
Backs: Baptiste Jauneau (Clermont), Nolann Le Garrec (La Rochelle), Maxime Lucu (Bordeaux-Begles), Romain Ntamack (Toulouse), Joris Segonds (Bayonne), Ugo Seunes (Racing), Pierre-Louis Barassi (Toulouse), Fabien Brau-Boirie (Pau), Nicolas Depoortere (Bordeaux-Begles), Gael Fickou (Racing), Emilien Gailleton (Pau), Kalvin Gourgues (Toulouse), Louis Bielle-Biarrey (Bordeaux-Begles), Gael Drean (Toulon), Aaron Grandidier (Pau), Damian Penaud (Bordeaux-Bègles), Leo Barre (Stade Francais), Cheick Tiberghien (Bayonne)