LONG READ Why England's ex-pats are hurting France's backrow depth chart

The news that Tom Willis is returning to France this summer to join Bordeaux is not just bad news for England. It is also a nuisance for France’s national coach, Fabien Galthie. Yet another English loose forward reducing his back-row options.

There are even a couple of grizzled former England loose forwards in the top echelons of the ProD2 in Courtney Lawes (Brive) and Teimana Harrison (Provence).

This is a recent phenomenon. In the 2010s it was predominantly English backs who made the move to France and flourished; the likes of Jonny Wilkinson, Chris Ashton, Nick Abendanon, David Strettle and Delon Armitage.

One might argue that Zach Mercer started France’s penchant for English back-row forwards during his two seasons at Montpellier. The former Bath No 8, capped twice by England in 2018, was hugely influential when they won their inaugural Top 14 title in 2021/22. Mercer was named Player of the Season, the first Englishmen to achieve such an accolade (not even Wilkinson got that gong). Last season Jack Willis beat Thomas Ramos and Sireli Maqala to the award.

In analysing why Mercer – who joined Toulon last summer – was such a success in France, former Toulon fitness coach Steve Walsh said: “He fits in so well because the Top 14 is slightly slower [than the English Premiership] and also less structured and that suits Zach’s game. The skill level among the forwards a little lower and so with his natural ability, and the speed with which he reads the game.”

Top 14 coaches evidently reached the same conclusion, which explains why there is now such a fashion in France for English loose forwards.

They are in general fitter, quicker and technically superior than their French counterparts.

Of the ten loose forwards selected in Galthie’s 42-man Six Nations squad, five – Mickaël Guillard, Anthony Jelonch, Alexandre Roumat, Charles Ollivon and Cameron Woki – have played for either club or country in the second row.

France, like South Africa, don’t field open- and blind-side flankers in the way their rivals traditionally have. They play left and right flankers, usually big men of similar attributes. Having that specialist No7 – a Neil Back, Richie McCaw or Josh van der Flier hasn’t been France’s style. There have been some brilliant footballing flankers for France – Jean-Pierre Rives, Laurent Cabannes and Olivier Magne, for example; but in the last decade as the Top 14 has become more and more physical France have nurtured a generation of back row giants, many of whom can also play in the second row.

Of the ten loose forwards selected in Galthie’s 42-man Six Nations squad, five – Mickaël Guillard, Anthony Jelonch, Alexandre Roumat, Charles Ollivon and Cameron Woki – have played for either club or country in the second row.

Of the ten, the smallest is the 6ft 2in Alexandre Fischer.

Writing in the Sunday Times at the weekend, Stuart Barnes mused over Borthwick’s selection conundrums for the Six Nations opener and said: “There’s little to say about the back row, other than it is packed with talent, variety and options.”

There is excitement about the emergence of Bordeaux 24-year-old No 8 Temo Matiu, who switched from basketball to rugby four years ago. “I think I’ve retained a lot from basketball, with ball-handling techniques and even jumping for lineouts,” he said in an interview last year. “It’s also helped me read the game and analyse spaces.”

In the last year the 6ft 3in Matiu has bulked up to over 16 stones, making him similar in size and style to England’s Greg Fisilau. He’s the type of powerful, athletic, skilful loose forward that France requires. Cros, Ollivon, Jelonch, Roumat and Woki are fine players but they are much of a muchness. They are also getting on in years, and in the case of Cros, Ollivon and Jelonch, have suffered serious injuries in recent seasons.

The problem for Galthie is the lack of fresh loose forward talent coming through. There was a lot of justified hype a few seasons ago about La Rochelle’s Matthias Haddad, only 21 when he helped his club win the 2022 Champions Cup. But ever since he has been plagued by injuries, and just before Christmas he suffered his sixth concussion in five years. According to a recent report in Midi Olympique, the club has sent Haddad to one of France’s leading experts in concussion injuries to assess his future.