France and Galthié face critics and Italy in the Six Nations

Fabien Galthié compares the critics rounding on his France team to impatient viewers of a reality TV show.

Two frustrating performances in the Six Nations so far — France was humiliated by Ireland and lucky against Scotland — have emboldened observers to say he should chop and change his team.

But the under-fire Galthié has come out swinging.

First, the coach kept change to a minimum for the game against Italy on Sunday in Lille.

Then he took aim at the critics.

“The France team isn’t Star Academy or Koh Lanta,” he said, referring to popular TV shows where contestants are voted off each week. “Some players haven’t been playing as well as usual, that’s their right. They’re human beings.”

Among the most heavily criticized is flyhalf Matthieu Jalibert, who has not maintained his Rugby World Cup form from the autumn. Seemingly short on confidence without former captain Antoine Dupont beside him in the halves, Jalibert has been lambasted for not orchestrating the attack well, for his decision making and poor tackling in the 38-17 loss to Ireland and the comeback 20-16 win in Scotland.

In a show of faith, Jalibert and the entire backline has been retained by Galthié. He tinkered only moderately with the forwards, mainly because of an injury to captain Grégory Alldritt.

“We are convinced things would not work out if we just changed everything,” Galthié said. “We really believe in ourselves and we will start winning again. We will get back to our best.”

He admits he’s been hurt by the criticism, which has even included his way of talking. He was seen as being rose-tinted for hyping up the win against Scotland, which Les Tricolores claimed only when a last-gasp try by Scotland couldn’t be verified by video.

“Everyone’s responsible for what they think and what they say. Words are very important. They can hurt, just like punches,” he said. “We were losing until the 69th minute (against Scotland), we’d lost our captain to injury and young players had to come on.”

One of those was 19-year-old lock Posolo Tuilagi, whose reward for a solid showing is a first test start on Sunday. The Samoa-born, France-raised Tuilagi, who finished high school last year, helped France win the world under-20 championship in 2023 and forwards coach Laurent Sempéré feels he is ready.

“Posolo was among the players who energized the team (against Scotland),” Sempéré said. “The way he has played in training and what he’s done when he’s come on have earned him a start.”

Tuilagi comes from a family steeped in rugby. His father Henry Tuilagi and four uncles played for Samoa, and another uncle, Manu Tuilagi, has carved out his reputation with England.

Paul Boudehent has also come into the back row, pointing to Galthié wanting France to overpower Italy. He has six more forwards in the reserves, including uncapped Toulon flanker Esteban Abadie.

With Alldritt nursing a left thigh injury, flanker Charles Ollivon takes the captaincy.

Winless Italy has undergone six changes after the 36-0 hammering by Ireland.

Inside centre Federico Mori starts for the first time in nearly two years, while flankers Ross Vintcent and Riccardo Favretto have their first test starts. Vintcent doesn’t carry the ball like Lorenzo Cannone but he’s quicker and a jackaller. Favretto usually locks, so with two more locks in the reserves, including uncapped Matteo Canali from Parma, Italy wants to match France physically.

Galthié expects Italy, which has five backs playing for French clubs, to be fired up.

“They will want to produce their best rugby,” Galthié said. “But so will we. No team is more demanding than us.”

___

Lineups:

France: Thomas Ramos, Damian Penaud, Gael Fickou, Jonathan Danty, Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Matthieu Jalibert, Maxime Lucu; Francois Cros, Charles Ollivon (captain), Paul Boudehent, Posolo Tuilagi, Cameron Woki, Uini Atonio, Peato Mauvaka, Cyril Baille. Reserves: Julien Marchand, Sebastien Taofifenua, Dorian Aldegheri, Romain Taofifenua, Alexandre Roumat, Esteban Abadie, Nolann Le Garrec, Yoram Moefana.

Italy: Ange Capuozzo, Tommaso Menoncello, Juan Ignacio Brex, Federico Mori, Monty Ioane, Paolo Garbisi, Martin Page-Relo; Ross Vintcent, Michele Lamaro (captain), Riccardo Favretto, Federico Ruzza, Niccolò Cannone, Giosuè Zilocchi, Giacomo Nicotera, Danilo Fischetti. Reserves: Gianmarco Lucchesi, Mirco Spagnolo, Simone Ferrari, Matteo Canali, Andrea Zambonin, Manuel Zuliani, Stephen Varney, Leonardo Marin.

___

AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby