JAMES HARRINGTON
FRENCH COLUMN
FRANCE coach Fabien Galthie has three main things on his mind heading into the third week of January. There's the 2023 Six Nations; then the 2023 World Cup; and, then – having finally confirmed this week the non-secret that he will remain in post until after the 2027 tournament – what comes after.
The most immediate of those is, obviously, the Six Nations. From the weekend of January 21, 42 selected players and the coaching staff will gather at a training camp in Capbreton, in the southwestern Landes department, to prepare the defence of their Six Nations title.
Galthie has made no secret of his ambitions for the French team under his charge. From day one, they were simply to ‘win matches and win trophies'. And he reiterated that goal this week when he said the goal for the 2023 Six Nations was to “repeat what we managed to do last year”.
It won't be easy. The fixture list is against him – France open with a banana-skin trip to Rome, and also face away matches against world number one side Ireland and England; Twickenham remains the only Six Nations' fortress not to fall to Galthie's France. But, Les Bleus today … you could just about believe they could pull off a second Six Nations title in a row, even if an unprecedented back-to-back Grand Slam is more-than-likely off the table.
He has injury concerns to deal with, notably in midfield following Virimi Vakatawa's health-enforced retirement at the beginning of the season, and long-term injuries for both Jonathan Danty and Arthur Vincent. In the pack, meanwhile, flanker Francois Cros and frontrowers Jean-Baptiste Gros and Pierre Bourgarit are likely to be unavailable for at least the early part of the tournament.
Galthie namechecked a number of uncapped players he has an eye on as possible cover – Stade Francais' Julien Delbouis and Leo Barre, Bordeaux duo Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Romain Buros, Lyon's Ethan Dumortier, and Toulouse's man mountain Emmanuel Meafou all got a mention. The first and last on that list, in particular, could well see some gametime in this Six Nations … though, in Meafou's case, everything depends on the arrival of his French passport.
There's even the prospect of the return of the Jalibert-Ntamack 10-12 partnership.
The World Cup period begins for France in June – and we know what the goal is there – when Galthie announces his list of 42 players for the summer training camps and five warm-up games before the tournament begins with France-New Zealand at Stade de France on September 8.
And then there's the aftermath. Galthie this week confirmed that he had signed a new deal through to the 2027 tournament in Australia. “During the difficult period, during the storm, Bernard Laporte asked me to do two things: whatever happens, to continue to chart our course towards the 2023 World Cup, and also to prepare for the next cycle in 2027,” he told reporters this week.
“The French coach has made no secret of his ambitions for the national team under his charge”
The coaching team will look a little different in the next cycle. Attack coach Laurent Labit and lineout coach Karim Ghezal will join Stade Francais, while performance director Thibault Giround is finally heading to Bordeaux after the World Cup, after a planned move to Racing 92 was halted following talks with the incoming head coach there, Stuart Lancaster. Team manager Raphael Ibanez is set to stay – albeit in an enhanced role as he takes on responsibilities beyond the senior men's group at Marcoussis. Shaun Edwards, too, has signed a fouryear contract extension as defence coach; while forwards coach William Servat has also agreed new terms that will give him extra responsibilities in the set-up.
Stade Francais' forwards coach Laurent Sempere, meanwhile, will come on board to work with the forwards under Servat. His was a relatively straightforward choice, given his success with the Parisian outfit's pack and set-piece.
It seems, too, fitness coach Nicolas Jeanjean is set to step up into the performance director's role, to replace Giroud.
But replacing Labit is proving more difficult. Reports in France suggested Pierre Mignoni – who moved from Lyon back to his beloved Toulon at the start of this season – would join up with the staff at FFR headquarters after the World Cup.
It made some sense. Mignoni had been sounded out on joining the French set-up under Galthie in 2019. That, obviously, never happened, but another approach given his success with Lyon was always on the cards.
It got so far as to be reported as a done-deal, before Mignoni issued a statement on the Toulon website politely but firmly denying he was about to leave the club he had only rejoined in July on a deal running to June 2026. “I came to this club to build a long-term project … I
intend to complete my mission,” he said.
As it stands, then, attack coach is the one final piece in Galthie's jigsaw for the 2023 to 2027 cycle. Following Mignoni's decision to stay put, reports have linked Gonzalo Quesada and Scotland coach Gregor Townsend as possible Galthie targets.
Both would be available. Quesada leaves Stade Francais at the end of the season, while Townsend's contract ends after the World Cup.
The Argentinian quickly scotched rumours linking him to the role with an unequivocal tweet, but Townsend – who played for Brive, Castres and Montpellier back in the day – has so far kept his counsel.
That's not to say Townsend is Galthie's man in waiting. There's no real suggestion yet that he even wants to leave, let alone take a step down from head coach to assistant when other, more enticing roles may become available. It may all be nothing more than wishful thinking. But while ever there's a vacancy with a successful and exciting France side, there will be speculation.
