Northern | US

Bordeaux stars complement new generation in France team to play All Blacks


(from L) Bordeaux-Begles' French scrum-half Martin Page Relo, Bordeaux-Begles' French wing Damian Penaud, Bordeaux-Begles' French fly-half Matthieu Jalibert, Bordeaux-Begles' French centre Yoram Moefana and Bordeaux-Begles' French centre Nicolas Depoortere qather during the European Champions Cup first round, day 3, pool 4, rugby union match between Bordeaux-Begles and Northampton Saints at the Chaban-Delmas stadium in Bordeaux on January 11, 2026. (Photo by ROMAIN PERROCHEAU / AFP via Getty Images)
Comments
Comment

France head coach Fabien Galthié has picked a youthful 23 to face the All Blacks in round 1 of the inaugural Nations Championship.

ADVERTISEMENT

Lock Tom Staniforth is in line for a debut in the No.5 jersey, bringing some familiarity with New Zealand to the team, having played 55 games in Super Rugby for the Waratahs and Brumbies. He’s joined by 22-year-old Hugo Auradou in the second row.

Up front, Jefferson Poirot and Demba Bamba offer some more experience in the tight five, alongside Maxime Lamonthe, who has been named for his first Test start. In the back row, Pierre Bochaton, Oscar Jegou and Marko Gazzotti have an average age of just 23.

VIDEO

The backline sees some established star power in Maxime Lucu and Matthieu Jalibert in the halves, feeding Bordeaux teammate Yoram Moefana at 12 and Pau’s two-Test 20-year-old Fabien Brau-Boirie at centre. The outside backs feature Theo Attissogbe on the left wing, Damian Penaud on the right and Max Spring at fullback.

Bringing impact will be Barnabé Massa, Reda Wardi and Régis Montagne in the front row, Mickaël Guillard in the second row, and Killian Tixeront as loose forward cover. Antoine Hastoy joins rising stars Nolann Le Garrec and Nicolas Depoortere as backline cover.

Team Form

Last 5 Games

4
Wins
4
1
Streak
1
21
Tries Scored
30
47
Points Difference
81
4/5
First Try
4/5
3/5
First Points
4/5
4/5
Race To 10 Points
5/5

France team to play New Zealand

  1. POIROT Jefferson
  2. LAMOTHE Maxime
  3. BAMBA Demba
  4. AURADOU Hugo
  5. STANIFORTH Tom
  6. BOCHATON Pierre
  7. JEGOU Oscar
  8. GAZZOTTI Marko
  9. LUCU Maxime
  10. JALIBERT Matthieu
  11. ATTISSOGBE Théo
  12. MOEFANA Yoram
  13. BRAU-BOIRIE Fabien
  14. PENAUD Damian
  15. SPRING Max

Reserves

16. MASSA Barnabé
17. WARDI Reda
18. MONTAGNE Régis
19. GUILLARD Mickaël
20. TIXERONT Killian
21. LE GARREC Nolann
22. HASTOY Antoine
23. DEPOORTERE Nicolas

ADVERTISEMENT

Related

Nations Championship

Watch Hemispheres collide as North faces South in the brand new Nations Championship. Live matches, replays and highlights free on RugbyPass TV here

Get the RugbyPass App 📱

Follow the biggest matches with live scores, line-ups, news and analysis, all in the RugbyPass App.

Download Here
On Apple IOS, Android, and Tablet.
ADVERTISEMENT
Play Video
LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Long Reads

Comments on RugbyPass

Close Panel
Close Panel

Edition & Time Zone

{{current.name}}
Set time zone automatically
{{selectedTimezoneTitle}} (auto)
Choose a different time zone
Close Panel

Editions

Close Panel

Change Time Zone

Close
ADVERTISEMENT
Copied to clipboard

Share Article close