World Cup: Pink is up front to start the match against New Zealand for the Blues

On September 6 at Roland Garros, coach Fabien Galthier will announce his squad for the start of the World Cup against New Zealand, two days later in Saint-Denis. With few surprises a priori.

Because the starting fifteen should strongly resemble the one that dominated Australia (41-17) in the warm-up match on Sunday. On the forward line, barring any new glitches, hooker Julien Marchand and right-hander Owiny Atunio will almost certainly start. According to our information, left cornerback Reda Wardi (28 years old, 9 international matches) will accompany them.

The Rochelais were saved last week against the Wallabies to give playing time to Jean-Baptiste Gros and above all to avoid a new risk after the injury of Cyril Bailly (calf), who withdrew to start the competition. After just two starts for the Blues (against Japan in November 2022 and then Fiji on August 19), the former Bézier No.1 will have a big test against the All Blacks next week.

Will Willemse or Woki accompany Flament?

In the second row, doubt remains about the team that the French administration will choose. If Thibaut Flament, who is now indispensable, looks set to start, who will accompany him, Paul Willemse or Cameron Walke?

The former played the last two matches as a starter to regain his rhythm before he was replaced in the 48th minute by the latter last weekend. The trend today will be to keep Montpellier, but training sessions planned for Sunday at Ruel Malmaison, the Blues’ base camp, should allow us to find out more.

At the back, it will be classic. The joint should consist of Mathieu Jalibert and captain Antoine Dupont, while Damien Benaud and Jabin Villiers will be on the wings as well as Thomas Ramos at the back.

Finally, in the middle, to compensate for the injury of Jonathan Dante, there are two options on the table: Arthur Vincent and Yoram Moivana, both candidates to support Gael Fico.