France Name 6 Nations Squad – And it’s MASSIVE

Fabien Galthié has named his squad for the 2024 Six Nations: Selections, ins and outs, fixtures. I spoke to Stade Francais defense coach Paul Gustard about the squad

This podcast is brought to you by eToro, the official investing and trading partner of Premiership Rugby. Tackle investing the smart way and join millions of UK investors on eToro today. The friendly platform for serious investors: https://www.etoro.com/

eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.”

►Welsh Squad with Adam Jones: https://youtu.be/1SxZW21nd1I
►Irish Squad with Bernard Jackman: https://youtu.be/u108gwXMgYs
►English Squad with Nick Easter: https://youtu.be/oDIPxffiJfI

Support:
►Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/twocentsrugby
►Buy me a Beer: https://buymeacoffee.com/twocentsrugby

Contact:
►Twitter: https://twitter.com/twocentsrugby
►Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/twocentsrugby
►Email: twocentsrugby@outlook.com

#sixnations #6nations #rugby

French squad for the Six Nations 2024 folks have Fabian galtier picked a side a side which looks pretty bloody big and we’ll have high expectations for this tournament we’re going to go through the squad the fixtures and uh yeah you guys can let us know your thoughts on how you

Reckon this squad may be going to go uh if you haven’t seen them already I’ve been doing a few Squad previews with some former players current coaches and Adam Jones from Wales Berard Jackman uh from Ireland we talked to Nick Easter about England uh for the French Squad I

Was privileged enough to have a we chat with Paul gustard Former Defense coach for England and harlequin’s former head coach he’s working over in St fron so he allowed me a few minutes of his time to go over the French Squad given that he works in the top 14 certainly had uh

Some pretty good insights so we’ll chat with him in just a second but I should say a big thanks tooro because this episode is brought to you by eoro they are the official investing and trading platform of Premiership rugby tackle investing the smart way and join millions of UK investors on eoro today

The friendly platform for serious investors eoro is a multi-asset uh investment platform the value of your Investments may go up or down uh your capital is at risk but yes let’s hear from Paul on what he thought of the squad and uh we’ll get back to you in a

Sec Six Nations folks is not too far away and France have named their squad I am joined by Paul gastard who just so happens to be working in France at the moment with st fron in his role as defense coach Paul mate how’s it going if you seen the squad were you surprised

About ALR being named captain uh well firstly thank you for having me um yeah seen the squad obviously big big news over here when the squads are announced like any Home Union when the teams are announced there’s lots of clam lots of excitement regards to regards to Alder I think he’s

Probably the obvious obvious choice I know there was rumored about olivor um but I I know from speaking to Ronan at lell that alr’s a big leader for them he’s a big figure for them and his return to lell into the starting team after a an agreed absence between lell

And the player has also meant that they’ve start winning games again so he’s had a huge impact and in the changing room I think he’s a big personality so no real surprise there obviously with Depon missing I think every the Home Union is delighted and um you know they’re grateful that he’s not

There but he’ll be a big loss to France for sure luu’s a great player like gar at ring is a great player as well but deon’s obviously something special if there’s one side though that can kind of afford to lose its point I mean know he’s Irreplaceable like one for one but

France’s depth in that position is pretty incredible yeah I I think anyone that’s followed rugby for any period of time knows that France have this uh little Napoleon character the little general at at nine that’s tends to be where the team evolves around you know a

Lot of other teams it’s normally the 10 the first 58 but in France it tends to be the nine he goal kicks a lot he tends to be the key decision maker a lot play comes of him because the size of the forwards and certainly yeah you’re right

Look France have got a real depth in that position L who’s a fantastic player looks a bit like Jason Stam as well so he probably goes all right with the girls and then legar has been on fire for the last two three seasons you know really an impish kind of intuitive kind

Of nine you know sticks a lot around the fringes into pwn sort style and um it’s been in real real form for wrassling over the last kind of 18 months yeah it’s kind of incredible that liak hasn’t actually been capped yet I know he sat

On the bench once for France but I feel like for any other country he’s probably already been capped yeah for sure for sure I mean that shows the depth I’ve had right I mean looku has obviously come in and done really well you’ve got people like Baptist San at at ton that’s

Also you know one of the probably the best nines that you see playing in the northern hemisphere at the moment but can’t get a look in and that probably shows the depth of the squad that they’ve got toana flying high in the top 14 at the moment and saran’s been a big

Play for them and unfortunately for them just like we mentioned Al before his injuries also coincide with a big downturn and T On’s performances on the field now you mentioned earlier mate big forwards in France well I’ve been having a look at the squad itself and one of

The uncapped guys Emmanuel mfu goodness gracious me that’s 145 kilos of Samo and Heritage New Zealand born Australian raised and now you know loving life in France to the point that this a new Homeland he wants to pay for the country he’s a big unit to be excited about he’s

A big boy right he’s a big boy and obviously the other fell that’ve got Roman T Roman T let’s call him ta is is also monster and it it it kind of fits the the profile of the locks that I like to choose here they normally have a real

Big heavy lock and then they have an athletic lock and then the back row they choose a jumping option in the back row to compensate for the extra weight that they put in the second row mafu something different though obviously is’s standing over 2 meters tall as he

Said 145 that’s program weight so we know that he’s definitely heavier we know he’s definitely heavy he’s eating more bread and drank more wine and eating more cheese than than that probably program weight suggests right so he’s probably over 150 he’s a huge man he’s got great offloading skills

Obviously you know big man to bring down extra ballast in the scrum and uh more defense and more attack is obviously a potent weapon as well and like for likely placement with the tow and um you know certainly there shown their depth and obviously us at St Fon we’ve got one

Of our second rows reincluded since 2019 the World Cup Paul gabrial who is for me I’ve coached a lot of a lot of good second rows in my time you know like maroi and George Cruz Etc but probably Courtney laws in England and this guy Paul gabria the two stand outs for me

That I’ve had the privilege to coach and work alongside how well did that news go down in the St fron camp but did it come as a bit of a surprise cuz I know like every time there’s a team naming I have a we sneaky look at the Facebook page of

The relevant team just to see what people are saying and French fans to that one did seem a little bit taken a back what about in the squad well look for us he’s he’s our captain um he’s played tremendously well he’s only 30 um you know kind of I think

Had a disagreement with the with the French uh selection committee shall we say a couple of years ago and probably that’s led to his absence rather than his performance on the field because he’s been absolutely imperious for us um his lineup Works exceptional his work R is exceptional he plays more like a

Third line plays more like a back row uh very physical very abive around the contact area um you know very athletic he’s work right off the ball is tremendous so for us we’re obviously delighted and it’s no surprise for me um if he was an English Locker I can

Imagine he’d have 60 70 caps by now easily um you know he’s a tremendous player um he’s a good man and we’re really really really happy that he’s back involved downside I was sorry the downside I was gonna say though we’ve got three second rows injured at the

Moment and if we lose him as well we we’re in a bit of trouble we have to try and make shift one of our back rows into second row yeah exactly someone’s gonna have to shift into the second row yeah that’s it that’s it that’s it that’s it

It was normally my RO so I’m quite thankful I don’t play anymore I was gonna say because uh as well as the news would have been received well with gabri making the squad seku mako’s Omission was one of the more notable ones when having to look through the team Sheet where I just

Assumed he must be injured because galtier seems to love him as that kind of hybrid you know loose forward exceptional players can cover the backline and a pinch yeah look’s he’s got something different seu you know his his athletic potential is is a significant competitive advantage to to

Other athletes that are playing you know he’s he’s a complete opposite if you like of of the likes of mafu and ta you know he’s he’s he lik he 105 106 kilos but he’s electrifyingly quick you know he covers 37 kilometers an hour I think uh you know he’s super super fast and

Hence he’s played on on the wing for France um you know a tremendous athlete um probably not quite bang in form as he has been in the past had a couple of injuries just small injuries over the course of the first kind of two three months of the season and and maybe

They’re just looking at a couple of other options or just trying to give them a bit of a kick of the ass as well speaking of other options I mean of any of the UNCA guys that you kind of particularly excited about they’ve got this guy aladi in the back row they’ve

Got a couple of um other backs like dorte in the Midfield Anto GI the number 10 yeah look I I think abid’s probably more of a surprise to me just the profile of player that he is doesn’t normally suit the kind of French model he’s he’s more of an industrious kind of

Work rate kind of player you know he’s probably more a black ad if you like then then then you would expect an aldr or maoo or someone like this uh good good set piece uh very good in the line out as I said huge numbers big workr

Player and there’s lots of those kind of players in front you know as easily you could have picked him we’ve got a guy called mat heroy at at St France also a very good player strong Defender good set piece big work rate and and there’s lots of those kind of profile players in

France so he was a bit of a surprise to me the young kid at 12 you pronounce his name a lot better than I do but I come from Newcastle so my my language isn’t the best in in my own tongue never mind in French um but he is um you know it

Shows you probably how well bordo have done the beginning this year under yanuk Brew um you know they’ve got their nine the 10 the 12 the 13 the 14 their 11 Bros at fullbacks probably thinking what’s wrong what’s he done wrong you know um it probably shows you the

Strength and how many points they’ve scored only in terms of points scored in the competition behind rassing which brings us on to rassing and jber the D the 10 that’s been playing for them in great form again an intuitive kind of play plays nine10 like a lot of the

Nines do in France as we’ve seen with Deon OB of course with France and with and with too and Morgan par one of our coaches now again played 10 for France as well and obviously may his name is a nine and jber fits that same profile uh very intuitive uh very instinctive uh

Good acceleration decent kicking game and uh probably good reward for for how well he’s played at the begin this year apart from the because they’ve only got the two nines I mean he’s pretty much guaranteed to get a cap of the other UNCA guys do you think there’s anyone

That stands out as like pretty much guaranteed to get a cap because some of the guys he may just get in the squad just for Galer to have a we look at yeah look I I think as we know the Six Nations is pretty attritional um you know it’s a condensed tournament over

Over over two and a half months um you know we’re going to see some injuries for sure so I think at some stage during the tourament these guys will get capped I would be surprised with the opening game as it is but they don’t go too far

Away from what they know um I I’d probably see I’d probably see the likes of uh of big Mau I think he’d be involved because bringing him in they’ve waited five years to to get them um domesticized and being eligible for France I think that he’s probably the

Most likely to feature um and then out outside you know with the cover that they’ve got JBE potentially would find himself on the bench because he covers nine and uh and 10 which gives him flexibility that they’ve used in the past you know we often see a 6-2 split

Or in the top 14 a 7-1 split um like we’ve seen with South Africa as well where where teams try and go heavy on the forwards and therefore need dual position players that can do two or three position and J would fit that mold and then outside that probably you know

The young kid at 12 probably will miss out because I think you know dantey is such a such an important player for France his win record is exceptional whenever he’s played I think all but one game they’ve won and uh you know Fu seems to be settled 1213 and mafana the

Bordeaux 13 plays center and also Wing So I think probably you’re less likely to see much change there P from jba and and mafu yeah that danty fiku Midfield has been absolutely brutal um I guess lastly expectations wise on the back of a guess disappointing Rugby World Cup campaign

At home is the expectation pretty much that these guys go out and get themselves a grand slam especially with Ireland at home well look it’s tough right I mean it’s it’s very tough you know the margins obviously at that level of sport are so small I mean I think France play

Tremendously uh against South Africa probably conceded very cheaply uh a couple of the scores early on but you know outscored them in terms of tries you know probably a more Ballin hand team that we’ve seen from some of the other teams that got towards the final

In the likes of England and the likes of South Africa um I I do expect some kind of backlash I do expect you know particularly we’ve seen in the in the European Champions Cup some of the teams at home have been absolutely on fire Bordeaux smacking sarens by 50 points

The weekend against a strong Saron team as well with all their International so there’s teams that are playing well um they’re at home there’s certainly some kind of pent up frustration from not delivering the the World Cup that everyone expected them to do on home soil which by the way isn’t the easiest

Thing to do as we’ve seen from World Cup history that winning a World Cup on home soil is not always the easiest right you’ve experienced that yourself I’ve experienced that myself as an Englishman so it’s it doesn’t always go your way but um I think France still played good

Rugby and the margins are so small I you know I think to to say you know France failed yes they failed to lift the lift the trophy but in terms of performances they were still you know very credible team with a lot of threat and I imagine

That that will continue to roll on and and I think irland might see see a very angry very physical and a very determined French Side in two weeks time angry backlash yeah these words I think ring pretty true I would imagine with a lot of the French fans but we look

Forward to it a couple of weeks away I hope you get a a bit of time during the the season to actually stop and watch some of the games but yeah I’ll let you get to work cheers mate Paul for coming along it was a real pleasure to have you

On thanks for having me and uh good night so yeah cheers to Paul for coming along that was really really insightful stuff uh I do look forward to seeing some of these uncapped French guys get a crack I mean especially meu with that pure size Halu as well is another big

Unit uh in the second row he’s 120 odd kilos which compared to me AFU seems the smaller of the two but yeah a very sizable unit the Bordeaux guys uh in that backline really really look deadly I’ve seen a little bit of the kind of Champions Cup we haven’t seen enough top 14

But yeah they are really really Cutting Loose this season small part of me wonders maybe the Midfield of fiku and dantey may be under a little bit of threat just partly looking at the ages and partly looking at the form of some of the other guys having had a we look

At some of the stats I mean Dante is 31 and certainly you know his defensive game his ability to tackle and turnover plus big ball carrier has been immense and fiku at 29 his defensive reads and his ability to just kind of pop up anywhere seemingly like Johnny on the

Spot wherever he’s needed he pops up uh invaluable and the most capped guy in this side by a mile with 85 caps but still deor gon there are these guys who are going to be pushing and mo farer as well who’s who’s Mr versatile maybe sees himself on

The bench due to his ability to cover so many spots but yeah these guys are going to be pushing for spots um some of the other guys I mean we mentioned mcaloo with Paul he’s not in the squad viler seems like he’s probably done at this point with the likes of be

Label you’ve got some really Fleet footed quick Wingers I mean Peno is an absolute lock on One Wing you would assume Ramos is there at fullback it’s probably between be and leel for that left wing Lou be for for France at the World Cup you know showed that he is

Just an incredible Talent so probably lock him in flamont is one of the guys injured uh inter Mar is still obviously unavailable bugar uh in the number two Jersey is also one of the guys who misses out through injury but yeah overall the squad seems pretty steady

But nice to see a few of these younger guys UNCA guys brought in so it’s not wholesale changes it’s not Ultra conservative just keep with the core that went to the World Cup you’re replacing one of the world’s best players with some exciting young Talent with Anton Dupont being missing you’ve

Got a captain who is an absolute First Choice guy no doubt about that so there’s a lot to like about this French side you guys let us know your thoughts how do you reckon the French you’re going to go with Ireland at home do you think they are the obvious favorites

Scotland away Italy at home Wales away and then England at home the fixtures list seems pretty doable England and Ireland at home for this uh for this French side but yes you guys let us know your thoughts how France are going to go cheers to Paul for coming along cheers tooro uh for

Sponsoring the episode cheers to Planet rugby for helping out as well but yes you guys take care of yourselves and um I’ll talk to you guys again soon see you lat