Thibaud Flament, Emmanuel Meafou and Gaël Fickou return, Charles Ollivon in third row… French XV line-up to face Australia

Fabien Galthié revealed on Thursday that 23 players are lined up to challenge the Wallabies on Saturday at the Stade de France.

Follow-up composition to end the tour. Fabien Galthié revealed, Thursday 20 November, the starting XV and eight substitutes to face Australia, the final match of the autumn tour, at the Stade de France on Saturday 22 November. Of the 15 players who started against Fiji last week, 12 were renewed by the coach. There will be two changes up front, with the return of Thibaud Flament and Emmanuel Meafou to reform the second line as usual, and one in three quarters, with the return of Gaël Fickou, left to rest against Fiji.

To make room for them, Romain Taofifenua, Pierre-Louis Barassi and Oscar Jégou left the starting XV. The first assisted against Fiji following the withdrawal of Emmanuel Meafou, the second is yet to recover from concussion and the third will be on the bench.

Fabien Galthié maintained his confidence in his first line of Jean-Baptiste Gros-Julien Marchand-Régis Montagne and especially his hinge Maxime Lucu-Romain Ntamack, while the opener struggled to create a spark in the first two games. “No one cares about Romain’s performance, look at his defensive performance, aerial balls and kicks. This is the problem with players in the middle of the game: if the ball doesn’t return to the center, it’s difficult. I repeat, they are the best team at the moment.”defended the coach in a press conference.

In the third row, Charles Ollivon, author of a “amazing feedback” against Fiji according to assistant coach Laurent Sempéré, will return to his position in the third line with Anthony Jelonch and Grégory Alldritt, who was appointed as captain, to reform the line most viewed since the 2023 World Cup quarter-final loss by one point against South Africa (29-28).

Lastly, on the bench, consisting of six attackers and two three-quarter but “which is actually an adaptive 5-3″according to Fabien Galthié, the presence of Kalvin Gourgues will receive special attention. The young center (20 years old) from Stade Toulousain, who has made his name since the start of the season in the Top 14, should make his first cap during the match on Saturday. “He was expected to play from the start of the tour, but he was forced to withdraw due to a minor muscle problem (adductor discomfort). There, he came back 100%.” entrusted to Team This Wednesday winger Thibaud Flament from Marcoussis.