Will the return of Antoine Dupont fuel a French revolution? We provide our France Six Nations Preview ahead of the 2025 Championship.
It was hard to predict how France would respond in the 2024 Six Nations after the disappointment of their quarter-final exit in the 2023 World Cup, which they had prepared for under Fabien Galthié’s leadership over the previous four years.
Their opening defeat against Ireland in Marseille (17-38) almost immediately ended their hopes of lifting the trophy, a feat they’ve only managed once since 2011 (a Grand Slam in 2022).
Despite winning their two away games in Scotland and Wales, their draw against Italy in Lille (13-13) during Round 3 sealed their fate. A narrow 33-31 win over England in the final round left them in second place, marking the first time since 2012 that France won just one home game during a campaign in which they hosted three times.
Despite those mixed results in the Six Nations, France ended 2024 with a 73% win rate (W8 D1 L2) and have maintained a rate over 70% in each of the last three years – an achievement they had only managed once in the previous 17 years.
Playing Style
France’s style of play under Galthié has centered on using their big men to create space for the more creative and agile players.
In the 2024 Six Nations, France played within 10 metres of the ruck on 57% of their phases, more frequently than any other team. They made the most picks and go carries (70) and gained more metres from those carries (175m) than any other side.
This approach highlights their strategy of focusing on rucks before moving the ball wide or exploiting weaknesses in the opposition’s defence.
France also played to the blindside of their rucks the most (16%) and were the fastest at the breakdown, with the highest share of rucks completed in under 3 seconds (60%).
This ability to strike while the forwards were tied up doing the grunt work was also evident at scrum time. France scored five tries from possessions that began with a scrum during the 2024 Six Nations, more than any other side. In fact, the five other teams in the Championship scored seven such tries between them, with no single side registering more than two.
Strengths and Weaknesses
France played a physical game in the 2024 Six Nations, with the power coming not only from the big men, but from the whole team. Les Bleus’ players beat the most defenders (132) and had the highest dominant carry rate among all teams last year (31%).
Their power was also evident at the set-piece, with their maul being a particular strength. They managed to gain almost twice as many metres from their mauls (119) as any other team during the 2024 tournament.
France had some ups and downs with their discipline last year, however. While they conceded the fewest penalties of any side (37), they were shown two red cards – the only team to receive any. They also conceded the most turnovers (73, tied with England) and were the only side to win fewer than 20 turnovers (19).
Defensively, despite having the best 22m-exit rate of any team last year (91.5%) and conceding the second-fewest entries into their own 22 (33 – Ireland 30), they were the only team to concede at least three points per defensive entry (3.42). This was somewhat surprising given that they were among the three teams with the lowest such averages in each of the previous four tournaments under Galthié.
France also made fewer tackles than any other team in the 2024 Six Nations (123 per game), but their tackle completion rate was strong, with only Scotland (89.3%) achieving a higher rate than Les Bleus (88.6%).
France seemed to correct some of those Six Nations weaknesses when they lined up in the Autumn Nations Series. They were the only Tier 1 team to complete 200+ tackles per game (202) and won the most turnovers per game of any side (7.3).
Their strength at the breakdown was also on display, making the most jackal turnovers per game (4.7).
Also pleasing for Galthié was the fact that they conceded just 2.1 points per defensive 22 entry; only South Africa (1.7) and New Zealand (2.0) had lower averages among the Tier 1 teams last autumn.
Star Players
France are not short of star players. Golden boy Antoine Dupont is back after a successful 7s campaign last year, while elusive winger Damian Penaud is on a quest to become France’s all-time top try scorer (currently 36, behind Serge Blanco’s 38). Meanwhile, Thomas Ramos is closing in on Frédéric Michalak’s record of 436 points for Les Bleus (currently 379).
Despite still being under 30, these players are already considered veterans in the French team. Recent years have also seen the emergence of new talents, such as 21-year-old Louis Bielle-Biarrey from Union Bordeaux-Bègles.
Bielle-Biarrey has already scored 10 tries in 14 appearances for France, including five in 2024, the most of any French player last year. His speed and ability to exploit space between defensive lines make him a standout option.
Among the 415 players to play over 80 minutes for a Tier 1 nation in 2024, Bielle-Biarrey averaged the most line breaks per 80 minutes (2.3). His speed is particularly dangerous for defences who tend to play high or struggle on the back foot, with four of his five tries in 2024 scored directly following kicks behind the defence.
Another regular in the French XV is back-rower Paul Boudehent. He played a joint-high eight games for France in 2024 and had the fourth-best tackle completion rate (97% – 65/67) among Tier 1 players who attempted 50+ tackles. Boudehent also led French players with nine dominant tackles and shared the best dominant carry rate (47%) with Penaud.
During the Autumn Nations Series, Boudehent scored three tries after going without a try in his first 11 caps. Will there be more in 2025?
Can France Win the Six Nations?
France have won the Six Nations just once since 2010, securing the Grand Slam in 2022. The Opta supercomputer has France’s most likely finishing position as second. They’re given a 29.4% chance of winning the whole thing and a 12.6% chance of doing the Grand Slam.
France Six Nations Fixtures
Round One: 31 January – 1 February
France vs Wales – Stade de France, Paris
Round Two: 8-9 February
England vs France – Twickenham, London
Round Three: 22-23 February
Italy vs France – Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Round Four: 8-9 March
Ireland vs France – Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Round Five: 15 March
France vs Scotland – Stade de France, Paris
France Six Nations Squad
Forwards: Esteban Abadie, Gregory Alldritt, Uini Atonio, Hugo Auradou, Cyril Baille, Maxime Baudonne, Giorgi Beria, Paul Boudehent, Joshua Brennan, Georges-Henri Colombe, Dylan Cretin, Francois Cros, Marko Gazzotti, Jean-Baptiste Gros, Mickael Guillard, Oscar Jegou, Maxime Lamothe, Julien Marchand, Temo Matiu, Peato Mauvaka, Emmanuel Meafou, Lenni Nouchi, Alexandre Roumat, Rabah Slimani, Clement Verge.
Backs: Theo Attissogbe, Remy Baget, Pierre-Louis Barassi, Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Nicolas Depoortere, Antoine Dupont, Emilien Gailleton, Matthieu Jalibert, Louis Le Brun, Nolann Le Garrec, Maxime Lucu, Yoram Moefana, Noah Nene, Romain Ntamack, Damian Penaud, Thomas Ramos, Cheikh Tiberghien.
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