{"id":163929,"date":"2025-06-06T21:14:09","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T21:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/163929\/"},"modified":"2025-06-06T21:14:09","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T21:14:09","slug":"fabien-galthie-breaks-silence-on-all-blacks-compromise-and-nzr-fury-planet-rugby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/163929\/","title":{"rendered":"Fabien Galthie breaks silence on All Blacks compromise and NZR fury : Planet Rugby"},"content":{"rendered":"

France head coach Fabien Galthie insists that player welfare is their priority after defending their decision to tour New Zealand with a weakened squad.<\/b><\/p>\n

Earlier in the week, it was confirmed by the French Rugby Federation (FFR) that a deal had been agreed with the National Rugby League (LNR) over the strength of the group Les Bleus\u2019 boss could send.<\/p>\n

Following talks between the respective governing bodies, it was confirmed that Galthie<\/a> could only pick players who had \u2018little or no\u2019 playing time in the Six Nations in the 42-man squad.<\/p>\n

Although an exception has been made for the upcoming tour after an outcry from some top French players who wish to face the All Blacks<\/a> \u2013 allowing Top 14 finalists to head to New Zealand \u2013 it is limited to five.<\/p>\n

The criteria for the five finalists<\/p>\n

Those individuals must also meet a certain criteria \u2013 not too much game time in 2024\/25 and the selection being subject to prior agreement with the club.<\/p>\n

It therefore points to a severely understrength France<\/a> side facing the All Blacks during the three-Test series in July.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith Mathieu Brauge (team manager) and Nicolas Jeanjean (performance director), who went there to scout, we worked on the tour schedule,\u201d Galthie told Midi Olympique<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn collaboration with the clubs and the LNR, we have, with the indispensable presence of Jean-Marc Lhermet (FFR vice president), also changed the league-FFR agreement to allow Top 14 finalists to play the second and third Tests.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey will join us in Auckland on July 2 but will not play the first Test because they will have arrived three days before.\u201d<\/p>\n

All Blacks to face a handful of France\u2019s best after an agreement is reached with major caveats<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

It is also not a guarantee that all the chosen five players from the Top 14 finalists will tour, with Galthie facing a nervous wait over whether they make it through the showpiece event.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s imagine that the targeted players for whom we have an agreement with the managers get injured in the final\u2026\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

New Zealand Rugby\u2019s fury<\/p>\n

When it was initially announced that France would be sending a weakened squad on this tour, there were reports that New Zealand Rugby were furious with the FFR.<\/p>\n

Even this slight compromise might not be met with absolute glee by the governing body or the fans, something Galthie understands, but the head coach once again explained why they feel the need to rest their stars.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course,\u201d he responded after being asked if he was aware of New Zealand\u2019s frustration. \u201cIt\u2019s not for a lack of explanation why we can\u2019t send the most used players [over the course of the season] on a summer tour.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrench rugby players potentially have 37 matches to play with their club, to which we add, in absolute terms, 11 matches for the French XV. Who can play 50 rugby matches per season? Nobody.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter 25 matches or 2,000 minutes played, the factors limiting a player\u2019s performance and development are multiplied. This is a public health issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

The French boss also discussed how their situation is different to New Zealand, whose system is very much geared towards the All Blacks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have a different schedule. They play about 10 matches with their provinces, which is basically their pre-season. Then they are completely dedicated to their national team, so it\u2019s completely different,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: New Zealand Rugby furious with France over move which \u2018devalues\u2019 blockbuster tour as rugby \u2018eats itself\u2019 once again<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"France head coach Fabien Galthie insists that player welfare is their priority after defending their decision to tour…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":163930,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5309],"tags":[2000,299,52599,36,225,522,704,12],"class_list":{"0":"post-163929","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-france","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-fabien-galthie","11":"tag-france","12":"tag-home-page","13":"tag-international","14":"tag-new-zealand","15":"tag-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114638491718045095","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163929\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}