Marcoussis (France) (AFP) – Returns of Cameron Woki and Paul Boudehent, repositioning of François Cros in the center: the third line of the French XV on Saturday against Fiji will be surprising, according to the indications from training in Marcoussis.

Published on: 04/11/2026 - 1:11 p.m.

Coach Fabien Galthié must formalize his team composition on Thursday morning, but the practices in training tend towards this new, and surprising, association in the third row.

The tenure of François Cros (32 years old, 44 caps) was expected, he who is an executive from the Galthié era. But the specialist in obscure tasks is almost systematically aligned in the third wing line, and not in the center, his expected place on Saturday. He has only worn the N.8 19 times since his debut, in more than 250 matches, and only once in the French team, for a sad 13-13 against Italy in 2024.

“The role of number 8 has changed a lot in recent years, it is no longer a specific specificity”, except in scrum where the Toulouse resident can manage thanks to his “experience”, estimated the assistant coach of the XV of France Patrick Arlettaz on Tuesday.

With the downgrading of Alldritt, the injury of Lenni Nouchi or the second line positioning of Mickaël Guillard, France is lacking in this position where players are judged in particular on their percussion ability, which is not François Cros' specialty.

During the 2026 Tournament, Fabien Galthié gave number 8 to Anthony Jelonch, also unaccustomed to the exercise.

But Arlettaz doesn't seem worried about Saturday: "He will be number 8 in the back, and he will play like François Cros the rest of the time, that's what we expect."

Ghosts

At his side, the Toulouse man will have two ghosts, in different sizes.

For Paul Boudehent (21 selections since 2023), part of the start of Galthié's second mandate, with match sheets during all the matches of the 2024 and 2025 Tournaments, progress stopped a year ago, after a knee injury against... Fiji.

Since then he has not played in blue again, due to physical problems and less good performances with La Rochelle, where he also played in the second row.

If he again suffered a small back injury which deprived him of training on Tuesday, he returned with his partners on Wednesday. Tough guy, this will be the main ball carrier profile of the third line.

On the other hand, Cameron Woki (31 caps) will give himself a nice birthday present for his 28th birthday, Saturday, with his return to Blue. Since the 2024 Tournament he has only played two matches, as a substitute, after starting during the 2023 World Cup, but in the second row. In Blue, he has not started in the third row for five years.

After being lost at Racing 92, he has come back to life since his return to Union Bordeaux-Bègles, where he was an architect of the second Champions Cup coronation last season.

“He's a fairly + accentuated + profile, a very aerial player, who devours spaces. He had to do like Robert Pires, to strengthen his game, and that's what he did,” underlined Patrick Arlettaz. As a bonus, he will offer an alternative in touch to take or steal the balls, in addition to Florian Verhaeghe or Hugo Auradou, competing in the second line.

In the rest of the pack, Fabien Galthié could give a chance from the start to Maxime Lamothe at the back, in line with his good month of July, and to Sipili Falatea as right pillar, for a new experiment.

The back lines should present few surprises compared to the forces at Fabien Galthié's disposal, with the return of the Dupont-Ntamack hinge and a rear triangle Grandidier-Nkanang - Attissogbe - Bielle-Biarrey.

The probable composition of the XV of France against Fiji:

Attissogbe - Grandidier-Nkanang, Gourgues, Moefana, Bielle-Biarrey - (o) Ntamack, (m) Dupont (cap.) - Woki, Cros, Boudehent - Guillard, Verhaeghe - Falatea, Lamothe, Gros.

© 2026 AFP

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