ROMAIN NTAMACK WILL partner Toulouse teammate Antoine Dupont at half-back for France in their opening Nations Championship Test on home soil against Fiji, it was announced Thursday.
Coach Fabien Galthié unveiled France’s most trusted half-back pairing for the first time since March 2025, the duo having each suffered injuries since then.
It will be the 30th time that Dupont and Ntamack, aligned regularly at club level with Toulouse, match up as scrum-half and fly-half.
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“They are two top players who have won a lot with our team since 2020,” said Galthie, who highlighted the benefit of the pair being club team-mates.
“Collective experience is important at this level and they have that, even though they haven’t played much recently for France.”
After opening their campaign against Fiji on Saturday, France go on to host South Africa six days later and conclude against Argentina on 21 November, with both matches at the Stade de France.
France head up the Northern Hemisphere standings going into the business end of the Nations Championship, with Scotland, England and Ireland snapping at their heels.
France’s sole loss in the opening away fixtures in July was a two-point defeat by New Zealand. Galthié’s side followed that up by twice scoring 42 points in wins over Australia and Japan.
Dupont’s Toulouse teammate François Cros, normally a blindside flanker, was named as No 8, with Florian Verhaeghe and Mickael Guillard packing down in the second row.
Kalvin Gourgues gets a first start, while tighthead prop Sipili Falatea and flanker Cameron Woki get first call-ups since 2021 and 2023 respectively.
Former Leinster centre Jordie Barrett returns to the New Zealand starting line-up for their Nations Championship clash with Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday.
The 29-year-old centre is one of five changes from the All Blacks’ last game, a 43-21 win over Australia on 17 October.
Ethan de Groot starts at loosehead while front-rowers Asafos Aumua and Christian Lio-Willie as well as back-rower Anton Segner come into the match-day 23 on the bench.
Barrett’s older brother Beauden is at full-back with Damian McKenzie at fly-half to create a threatening playmaking spine.
“Scotland are a quality side,” All Blacks coach Dave Rennie said.
“They are very well coached and have built a lot of depth over recent years. They play a very similar brand of footy to us and we know we’ll need to be at our best on Saturday.”
Meanwhile, Wales head coach Steve Tandy has named a powerful centre partnership of Eddie James and Max Llewellyn to line up against Japan in the Nations Championship on Saturday.
The pair will be one of the biggest centre combinations in Wales’s history.
According to the official Welsh Rugby Union website, Llewellyn stands at 6 feet 6 inches (198 centimetres) tall and weighs 107 kilograms. James is five centimetres shorter and 4kg lighter.
Max Llewellyn. Alamy Stock Photo
Tandy has made seven changes from the 43-0 defeat to South Africa in July.
“There’s lots of competition for positions within the squad, which is where we want to be,” said Tandy.
“We’re excited to be back at home. We want to go out there on Saturday, put our mark on the match and start the next phase in our Nations Championship campaign strongly.”
Australian-born wing Monty Ioane will make his 50th appearance for Italy in this weekend’s Nations Championship match against South Africa, after being named on Thursday in coach Gonzalo Quesada’s team.
Ioane forms part of a back three including Toulouse wing Ange Capuozzo and Zebre full-back Mirko Belloni.
Fresh from scoring a hat-trick of tries for Stade Francais in Saturday’s 43-24 Top 14 victory over La Rochelle, hooker Giacomo Nicotera will captain the side for just the second time.
FRANCE (v Fiji): Theo Attissogbe; Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang, Kalvin Gourgues, Yoram Moefana, Louis Bielle-Biarrey; Romain Ntamack, Antoine Dupont (captain); Jean-Baptiste Gros, Maxime Lamothe, Sipili Falatea; Florian Verhaeghe, Mickael Guillard; Paul Boudehent, Cameron Woki, Francois Cros.
Replacements: Peato Mauvaka, Jefferson Poirot, Regis Montagne, Charles Ollivon, Tom Staniforth, Esteban Capilla, Maxime Lucu, Emilien Gailleton.
NEW ZEALAND (v Scotland): Beauden Barrett; Will Jordan, Quinn Tupaea, Jordie Barrett, Josh Moorby; Damian McKenzie, Cam Roigard; Ethan de Groot, Codie Taylor (captain), Fletcher Newell; Scott Barrett, Fabian Holland; Tupou Vaa’i, Peter Lakai, Wallace Sititi.
Replacements: Asafo Amumua, George Bower, Pasilio Tosi, Christian Lio-Willie, Anton Segner, Cortez Ratima, Timoci Tavatavanawai, Rieko Ioane.
WALES (v Japan): Blair Murray; Louis Rees-Zammit, Eddie James, Max Llewellyn, Josh Adams; Sam Costelow, Tomos Williams; Nicky Smith, Dewi Lake (captain), Archie Griffin; Dafydd Jenkins, Ben Carter; Alex Mann, Jac Morgan, Aaron Wainwright.
Replacements: Ryan Elias, Rhys Carre, Tomas Francis, Teddy Williams, James Botham, Reuben Morgan-Williams, Dan Edwards, Louie Hennessey.
ITALY (v South Africa): Mirko Belloni; Ange Capuozzo, Paolo Odogwu, Leonardo Marin, Monty Ioane; Paolo Garbisi, Alessandro Fusco; Muhamed Hasa, Giacomo Nicotera (captain), Simone Ferrari; Niccolo Cannone, Federico Ruzza; Alessandro Ortombina, Samuele Locatelli, Lorenzo Cannone.
Replacements: Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, Danilo Fischetti, Ion Neculai, Enoch Opoku Gyamfi, Ross Vintcent, Manuel Zuliani, Stephen Varney, Tommaso Allan.
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Ntamack to partner Dupont in France team for Fiji clash
ROMAIN NTAMACK WILL partner Toulouse teammate Antoine Dupont at half-back for France in their opening Nations Championship Test on home soil against Fiji, it was announced Thursday.
Coach Fabien Galthié unveiled France’s most trusted half-back pairing for the first time since March 2025, the duo having each suffered injuries since then.
It will be the 30th time that Dupont and Ntamack, aligned regularly at club level with Toulouse, match up as scrum-half and fly-half.
“They are two top players who have won a lot with our team since 2020,” said Galthie, who highlighted the benefit of the pair being club team-mates.
“Collective experience is important at this level and they have that, even though they haven’t played much recently for France.”
After opening their campaign against Fiji on Saturday, France go on to host South Africa six days later and conclude against Argentina on 21 November, with both matches at the Stade de France.
France head up the Northern Hemisphere standings going into the business end of the Nations Championship, with Scotland, England and Ireland snapping at their heels.
France’s sole loss in the opening away fixtures in July was a two-point defeat by New Zealand. Galthié’s side followed that up by twice scoring 42 points in wins over Australia and Japan.
Dupont’s Toulouse teammate François Cros, normally a blindside flanker, was named as No 8, with Florian Verhaeghe and Mickael Guillard packing down in the second row.
Kalvin Gourgues gets a first start, while tighthead prop Sipili Falatea and flanker Cameron Woki get first call-ups since 2021 and 2023 respectively.
Former Leinster centre Jordie Barrett returns to the New Zealand starting line-up for their Nations Championship clash with Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday.
The 29-year-old centre is one of five changes from the All Blacks’ last game, a 43-21 win over Australia on 17 October.
Ethan de Groot starts at loosehead while front-rowers Asafos Aumua and Christian Lio-Willie as well as back-rower Anton Segner come into the match-day 23 on the bench.
Barrett’s older brother Beauden is at full-back with Damian McKenzie at fly-half to create a threatening playmaking spine.
“Scotland are a quality side,” All Blacks coach Dave Rennie said.
“They are very well coached and have built a lot of depth over recent years. They play a very similar brand of footy to us and we know we’ll need to be at our best on Saturday.”
Meanwhile, Wales head coach Steve Tandy has named a powerful centre partnership of Eddie James and Max Llewellyn to line up against Japan in the Nations Championship on Saturday.
The pair will be one of the biggest centre combinations in Wales’s history.
According to the official Welsh Rugby Union website, Llewellyn stands at 6 feet 6 inches (198 centimetres) tall and weighs 107 kilograms. James is five centimetres shorter and 4kg lighter.
Tandy has made seven changes from the 43-0 defeat to South Africa in July.
“There’s lots of competition for positions within the squad, which is where we want to be,” said Tandy.
“We’re excited to be back at home. We want to go out there on Saturday, put our mark on the match and start the next phase in our Nations Championship campaign strongly.”
Australian-born wing Monty Ioane will make his 50th appearance for Italy in this weekend’s Nations Championship match against South Africa, after being named on Thursday in coach Gonzalo Quesada’s team.
Ioane forms part of a back three including Toulouse wing Ange Capuozzo and Zebre full-back Mirko Belloni.
Fresh from scoring a hat-trick of tries for Stade Francais in Saturday’s 43-24 Top 14 victory over La Rochelle, hooker Giacomo Nicotera will captain the side for just the second time.
FRANCE (v Fiji): Theo Attissogbe; Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang, Kalvin Gourgues, Yoram Moefana, Louis Bielle-Biarrey; Romain Ntamack, Antoine Dupont (captain); Jean-Baptiste Gros, Maxime Lamothe, Sipili Falatea; Florian Verhaeghe, Mickael Guillard; Paul Boudehent, Cameron Woki, Francois Cros.
Replacements: Peato Mauvaka, Jefferson Poirot, Regis Montagne, Charles Ollivon, Tom Staniforth, Esteban Capilla, Maxime Lucu, Emilien Gailleton.
NEW ZEALAND (v Scotland): Beauden Barrett; Will Jordan, Quinn Tupaea, Jordie Barrett, Josh Moorby; Damian McKenzie, Cam Roigard; Ethan de Groot, Codie Taylor (captain), Fletcher Newell; Scott Barrett, Fabian Holland; Tupou Vaa’i, Peter Lakai, Wallace Sititi.
Replacements: Asafo Amumua, George Bower, Pasilio Tosi, Christian Lio-Willie, Anton Segner, Cortez Ratima, Timoci Tavatavanawai, Rieko Ioane.
WALES (v Japan): Blair Murray; Louis Rees-Zammit, Eddie James, Max Llewellyn, Josh Adams; Sam Costelow, Tomos Williams; Nicky Smith, Dewi Lake (captain), Archie Griffin; Dafydd Jenkins, Ben Carter; Alex Mann, Jac Morgan, Aaron Wainwright.
Replacements: Ryan Elias, Rhys Carre, Tomas Francis, Teddy Williams, James Botham, Reuben Morgan-Williams, Dan Edwards, Louie Hennessey.
ITALY (v South Africa): Mirko Belloni; Ange Capuozzo, Paolo Odogwu, Leonardo Marin, Monty Ioane; Paolo Garbisi, Alessandro Fusco; Muhamed Hasa, Giacomo Nicotera (captain), Simone Ferrari; Niccolo Cannone, Federico Ruzza; Alessandro Ortombina, Samuele Locatelli, Lorenzo Cannone.
Replacements: Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, Danilo Fischetti, Ion Neculai, Enoch Opoku Gyamfi, Ross Vintcent, Manuel Zuliani, Stephen Varney, Tommaso Allan.
– © AFP 2026
France Nations Championship Selection Rugby