Ntamack and Slimani back, Jegou and Auradou very present… The list of 42 to prepare for the Six Nations Tournament

The long-awaited press release has been released. This Wednesday at the beginning of the afternoon, the French Rugby Federation unveiled the list of players summoned to Marcoussis to prepare for the 2025 Six Nations Tournament, from January 31 to March 15, with many absentees, major returns and some surprises. As for the November tour, Fabien Galthié has 42 players, unlike the previous edition, where the Blues staff had to deal with only 34 internationals.

Obviously, most of the senior players are present, from Antoine Dupont to Peato Mauvaka, via Uini Atonio (an uncertain time but finally there), Thibaut Flament, Thomas Ramos, Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Grégory Alldritt, Damian Penaud, Gabin Villière, François Cros, Anthony Jelonch, Julien Marchand and Yoram Moefana.

Romain Ntamack, 546 days later

Seeing his name in the press release makes us very funny. Since July 19, 2023, i.e. 546 days, Romain Ntamack had no longer appeared on a list of the XV of France. After several injuries, a shattered dream and many months away from Marcoussis, the Stade Toulousain flyhalf is, as expected, finally back. He is surrounded, at the opening, by Matthieu Jalibert, also selected by Fabien Galthié, after leaving the gathering during the last tour in November.

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Rabah Slimani, the immense surprise

This is one of the great pieces of information on this list. Rabah Slimani, 35 years old and 57 caps, is summoned by Fabien Galthié and the Blues staff to prepare for the Six Nations Tournament. His last match with the worn Rooster jersey dates back to the 2019 World Cup and this quarter-final tragically lost against the Welsh. An improbable, deserved return to compensate for the absence of several players at the pillar position. The Frenchman has been playing since the start of the season at Leinster and will therefore reopen the doors of Marcoussis more than five years later, to bring all his experience, particularly in scrum, a sector in which he is wreaking havoc under the colors of the Irish province in this financial year 2024-2025.

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Other returns to record, of shorter dates: Cyril Baille (Toulouse) and Nicolas Depoortère (UBB), both absent from the November tour, are also returning with the France group for this Six Nations Tournament. Prop Jean-Baptiste Gros, injured against Argentina last November, has returned to training and will be present in Marcoussis at the end of the week.

Several major absentees and a few new faces

Charles Ollivon (knee), Gaël Fickou (wrist), Reda Wardi (ribs), Alexandre Roumat (muscle injury). Several regulars from the French XV lists are absent from the latter, all due to injuries. To this, we can add Romain Buros, the back of the Union Bordeaux-Bègles, injured in the ankle, Sipili Falatea and Demba Bamba, in the recovery phase and the Perpignan player Posolo Tuilagi, who played the first three matches of the Tournament of the Six Nations 2024, victim of a fractured tibia and fibula at the start of the season. Baptiste Serin, the Toulon scrum half, although on cloud nine in this 2024-2025 exercise, does not appear on Fabien Galthié’s list either.

As for the new faces, the Breton winger Gaël Dréan like Le Figaro announced it, is indeed called (in place of Lebel). He is quite simply the top scorer in the Top 14 (with 11 tries in 11 matches) in the colors of the RCT. But above all, the young Noah Nene, 20 years old, a real “UFO”, appears well on this list. The Frenchman plays in Pro D2, with Dax, a championship in which he scored 3 tries this season.

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Jegou and Auradou very present

At the start of the week, the Blues coach Fabien Galthié was very clear on this subject, at the microphone of RMC : «Il there is a dismissal of the case, we consider that they are innocent”, before adding, “From the moment where, after a procedure, there is a dismissal of the case which is rendered, after a coherent procedure, they are selectable”. And it’s done. The two men, who stirred up the Blues’ summer tour in Argentina last year, are well on the list to prepare for the Six Nations Tournament.

The Blues will join Marcoussis next weekend, after the 4th day of the Champions Cup, a little less than two weeks before their entry into the Six Nations Tournament against Wales on January 31.

The complete list of 42:

Pillar (8): Cyril Baille (Toulouse, 31 years old, 50 caps), Georges-Henri Colombe (La Rochelle, 26 years old, 4 caps), Jean-Baptiste Gros (Toulon, 25 years old, 29 caps), Giorgi Beria (Perpignan, 25 years old, 0 sel.), Uini Atonio (La Rochelle, 34 years old, 53 sel.), Rabah Slimani (Leinster, 35 years old, 57 selections), Dorian Aldegheri (Toulouse, 31 years old, 19 selections), Dany Priso (Toulon, 31 years old, 18 selections).
Hooker (3): Julien Marchand (Toulouse, 29 years old, 40 sel.), Maxime Lamothe (UBB, 26 years old, 0 sel.), Peato Mauvaka (Toulouse, 28 years old, 37 sel.).
Second line (6): Thibaud Flament (Toulouse, 27 years old, 29 sel.), Matthias Halagahu (Toulon, 23 years old, 0 sel.), Emmanuel Meafou (Toulouse, 26 years old, 4 sel.), Romain Taofifenua (Lyon, 34 years old, 53 sel. ), Hugo Auradou (Pau, 21 years old, 1 selection), Joshua Brennan (Toulouse, 23 years, 5 sel.).
Third line (7): Grégory Alldritt (La Rochelle, 27 years old, 51 sel.), Anthony Jelonch (Toulouse, 28 years old, 29 sel.), Paul Boudehent (La Rochelle, 24 years old, 14 sel.), François Cros (Toulouse, 30 years old, 34 sel.), Marko Gazzotti (UBB, 20 years old, 1 sel.), Oscar Jegou (La Rochelle, 21 years old, 1 selection), Esteban Abadie (Toulon, 27 years old, 1 selection).
Scrum half (3): Antoine Dupont (Toulouse, 28 years old, 52 sel.), Nolann Le Garrec (Racing 92, 22 years old, 7 sel.), Maxime Lucu (UBB, 32 years old, 24 sel.)
Flying half (2): Romain Ntamack (Toulouse, 25 years old, 37 caps), Matthieu Jalibert (UBB, 26 years old, 34 caps).
Centre (7) : Nicolas Depoortère (UBB, 22 years, 2 years), Pierre-Louis Barassi (Toulouse, 26 years, 3 years), Antoine Frisch (Toulon, 28 years, 2 years) Émilien Gailleton (Pau, 21 years, 6 years) .), Yoram Moefana (UBB, 24 years, 30 sél.), Noah Nene (Dax, 20 years, 0 sel.).
Winger (5): Théo Attissogbe (Pau, 20 years old, 1 sel.), Louis Bielle-Biarrey (UBB, 21 years old, 14 sel.), Damian Penaud (UBB, 28 years old, 53 sel.), Gael Dréan (Toulon, 24 years old, 0 sel.) Gabin Villière (Toulon, 29 years old, 18 sel.)
Rear (2): Thomas Ramos (Toulouse, 29 years old, 39 selections), Léo Barré (Stade français, 22 years old, 6 selections).

The complete calendar of the XV of France:

Friday January 31

France – Wales (9:15 p.m., Stade de France)

Saturday February 8

Angleterre – France (17h45, Twickenham)

Sunday February 23

Italy – France (16h00, Olympic Stadium)

Saturday March 8

Ireland – France (3:15 p.m., Aviva Stadium)

Saturday March 15

France – Scotland (9:00 p.m., Stade de France)

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