The 42 are known. The new Blues coach Fabien Galthié unveiled Wednesday early afternoon his list of 42 players selected for the first Six Nations tournament in his mandate. With one watchword: renewal with a view to the 2023 World Cup that the XV of France will compete on its lands. Five-digit proof.
51
It is the number of selections that counts the most capped player of the tricolor group. The most experienced in the French jersey is called Gaël Fickou and yet is only 25 years old. The center of the Stade Français has no real rival in this area. Behind him, the second row Bernard le Roux is the second most selected player in the past with 37 selections.
# ListeDes42
🏆 Here are the 42 players selected to prepare for the #SixNations 2020 Tournament!
The Blues begin their preparation in Nice on January 19 and see you on Sunday February 2 at the Stade de France against England at 4 p.m. #NeFaisonsXV #XVdeFrance pic.twitter.com/a8AJ4PjSh9
19
Place for beginners. Almost half of the players retained by Fabien Galthié never appeared in the jersey of the French team. Among them, many great hopes of French rugby but also complete strangers to the general public, such as Anthony Bouthier (Montpellier), the wing of the Stade Français, Lester Etien, or the scrum half of Bordeaux-Bègles, Maxime Lucu.
16
This is the number of "survivors" of the preparation for the last World Cup. The new staff of the Blues have at least kept some players to have already set foot in Marcoussis with the A. If we look more closely, nine of the holders of the World Cup quarter-final lost to the Welsh (20-19) are still in the loop to start the Tournament against England on February 2.
7
The recent world champions under 20 are there. Seven players titled in 2018 or 2019 with the Bleuets were selected from this group. Among them, two of them, the opener or center Romain Ntamack and the pillar Demba Bamba, have already worn the French jersey among the "grown-ups".
1
As the number of thirties in the selection. Racingman Bernard Le Roux, who has competed in the last two World Cups, is the only player to have reached this milestone on the list. Behind the South African by birth, only another second line, Romain Taofifenua, is over 27 years old. The average age is around 24 years.
