Champions Cup winners dominate France squad to face England XV

Fabien Galthie has named his 28-man France squad that will face an England XV on Friday in Vannes, live on RPTV, with nine players from European champions Bordeaux-Begles.

Galthie has taken advantage of Bordeaux’s failure to make the Top 14 play-offs, and has flooded his squad with their players, including a return for loosehead Jefferson Poirot. There is, however, no place in the squad for stars Maxime Lucu, Matthieu Jalibert and Louis Bielle-Biarrey for the uncapped fixture.

After losing in the Top 14 quarter-finals at the weekend, both Pau and La Rochelle are well-represented in the squad, although Gregory Alldritt is still absent after being left out of France’s Guinness Six Nations squad.

The squad also contains nine uncapped players – Castres lock Tom Staniforth, fly-half Louis Le Brun and wing Christian Ambadiang, Bayonne flanker Esteban Capilla and hooker Lucas Martin, Pau fly-half Axel Despérès and wing Grégoire Arfeuil, ASM Clermont-Auvergne hooker Barnabé Massa and Toulon wing Mathis Ferté.

Following Friday’s clash, Les Bleus will take on the All Blacks, Australia and Japan in the Nations Championship in July.

Fixture

Rugby Union Hybrid Friendlies

France XV

35 - 19

Full-time

England A

All Stats and Data

France squad
Forwards
Pierre Bochaton (Bordeaux-Bègles, back row)
Esteban Capilla (Bayonne, flanker)
Sipili Falatea (Bordeaux-Bègles, prop)
Marko Gazzotti (Bordeaux-Bègles, back row)
Mickaël Guillard (Lyon, lock/back row)
Maxime Lamothe (Bordeaux-Bègles, hooker)
Lucas Martin (Bayonne, hooker)
Barnabé Massa (Clermont Auvergne, hooker)
Temo Matiu (Bordeaux-Bègles, back row)
Régis Montagne (Clermont Auvergne, prop)
Boris Palu (Bordeaux-Bègles, lock)
Jefferson Poirot (Bordeaux-Bègles, prop)
Emerick Setiano (Bayonne, prop)
Thomas Staniforth (Castres, lock)
Killian Tixeront (Clermont Auvergne, back row)
Réda Wardi (La Rochelle, prop)

Backs
Christian Ambadiang (Castres, wing)
Grégoire Arfeuil (Pau, wing)
Théo Attissogbe (Pau, wing/full-back)
Fabien Brau-Boirie (Pau, centre)
Nicolas Depoortere (Bordeaux-Bègles, centre)
Axel Despérès (Pau, fly-half)
Mathis Ferté (Toulon, wing/full-back)
Antoine Hastoy (La Rochelle, fly-half)
Baptiste Jauneau (Clermont Auvergne, scrum-half)
Louis Le Brun (Castres, fly-half)
Nolann Le Garrec (Racing 92, scrum-half)
Yoram Moefana (Bordeaux-Bègles, centre)