Antoine Dupont returns to captain France against Ireland
Antoine Dupont captains France on his return for Six Nations opener against Ireland.
©Steve Haag
France captain Antoine Dupont is set to return for Thursday night’s Six Nations opener against Ireland at the Stade de France.
Dupont has not featured at international level since suffering a serious knee injury during last year’s Championship. The Toulouse scrum-half has now recovered and will lead France in their opening fixture of the 2026 Six Nations.
Head coach Fabien Galthié has selected Matthieu Jalibert at fly-half in the continued absence of Romain Ntamack.
Thomas Ramos starts at full-back, with Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Théo Attissogbé named on the wings. Yoram Moefana and Nicolas Depoortère form the midfield pairing.
In the forwards, Jean-Baptiste Gros, Julien Marchand and Dorian Aldegheri make up the front row. Mickaël Guillard partners Thibaud Flament in the second row, while the back row features François Cros, Oscar Jegou and Anthony Jelonch at number eight.
France will look to make a strong start at home against an Ireland side that won last season’s Championship.
France XV: 15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Theo Attissogbe, 13 Nicolas Depoortere, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Antoine Dupont (c), 8 Anthony Jelonch, 7 Oscar Jegou, 6 Francois Cros, 5 Mickael Guillard, 4 Charles Ollivon, 3 Dorian Aldegheri, 2 Julien Marchand, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Reserves: 16 Peato Mauvaka, 17 Rodrigue Neti, 18 Regis Montagne, 19 Hugo Auradou, 20 Emmanuel Meafou, 21 Lenni Nouchi, 22 Baptiste Serin, 23 Kalvin Gourgues
