Rugby World Cup Depth Chart - France
In the latest of our series looking at the Rugby World Cup squads, we turn our attention to France depth chart, with the enigmatic side placed in a pool alongside England, whose squad we looked at previously.
The cliche around French rugby is that you never know which side will turn up, although over the last few years that has largely gone out of the window, as Les Bleus have struggled to be consistently competitive with the best sides in Europe, with England, Ireland and Wales having all enjoyed stints atop the Six Nations.
Jacques Brunel’s side does not lack for individual ability, however, with plenty of Top 14 stars in its ranks, many of whom have proven their quality time and time again in the European Rugby Champions Cup against the best of their European rivals.
Plenty of those standout club performers feature in the French depth chart below, as well as a handful of players who have already established themselves as difference-makers at the international level.
One of the major strengths of the French side lies up front, where Brunel can not only call on quality, but also quantity, as the set-piece proficiency of the Top 14 shines through.
The one-two punch of Jefferson Poirot and Dany Priso is one of the best in the world at loosehead, whilst Guilhem Guirado offers almost unmatched consistency from hooker.
The duo of Demba Bamba and Camille Chat are fast-improving players and the development of Sebastian Vahaamahina and Paul Gabrillagues over the past couple of seasons in the engine room should give hope to French fans.
There was a reshuffle on Wednesday with Romain Taofifenua called up as one of the half-dozen reserves in place of the injured Paul Willemse.
The back row has seen a changing cast in recent years, although Wenceslas Lauret and Arthur Iturria have established themselves as strong options on the flank, with Yacouba Camara and Francois Cros providing decent depth behind them.
Louis Picamoles’ form since moving back to France has ebbed and flowed and this may be his last shot at glory at the international level, although on his day he is still among the very best number eights in the world.
Baptiste Serin and Maxime Machenaud make up arguably the best depth chart of scrum-halves in world rugby, with Antoine Dupont the favoured man as stands, as French rugby’s propensity for churning out talented nines shows up clearly in their senior squad.
Consistency has been harder to find at fly-half, although Romain Ntamack and Anthony Belleau offer enticing potential as they sandwich the veteran Camille Lopez.
In-form Toulouse players Thomas Ramos and Sofiane Guitoune sit just behind the starting options, although Maxime Medard and Yoann Huget do start and provide plenty of experience in an all-Toulouse and Clermont back line.
Wesley Fofana and Alivereti Raka sit ahead of the La Rochelle pair of Geoffrey Doumayrou and Vincent Rattez in their respective positions, as Brunel leans heavily upon the back lines of the more high-tempo and expansive sides in the Top 14.
(Graphic Credit: Sam Stevens, Reddit. Depth chart republished with permission of the author)
Watch: Part One of RugbyPass’ documentary looking at the adventures and experiences on offer to fans in Japan later this year.
Comments on RugbyPass
“But with an exceptional pass accuracy rating “ Which apart from Roigard is not a feature of any of the other 9s in NZ. Kind of basic for a Black 9 dont.you. think? Yet we keep seeing FC and TJ being rated ahead of him? Weird if it’s seen as vital to get our backline beating in your face defences.
1 Go to commentsThanks BeeMc! Looks like many teams need extra time to settle from the quadrennial northern migration. I think generally the quality of the Rugby has held up. Fiji has been fantastic and fun to watch
13 Go to commentsLets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
11 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
10 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
11 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
24 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
10 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
35 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
35 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
17 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to comments