Live

Repeat: Off The Ball

02:00 AM-05:00 AM

Repeat: Off The Ball
Advertisement

Sport

Gabin Villiere given the nod on French wing, while Alldritt is passed fit to face Italy

France head coach Fabien Galthie has handed a Six Nations debut to Toulon winger Gabin Villière ...



France head coach Fabien Galthie has handed a Six Nations debut to Toulon winger Gabin Villière for Saturday's Six Nations opener against Italy in Rome.

The 25-year-old former Sevens international made his 25s deubt in their Autumn Nations Cup defeat of the Italians in Paris in November, scoring a try in the 36-5 victory.

He partners Teddy Thomas and Brice Dulin in the back three, with Arthur Vincent coming into the centre to partner Gael Fickou, owing to Virimi Vakatawa's absence.

Meanwhile Matthieu Jalibert takes the place of the injured Romain Ntamack at outhalf, to partner Antoine Dupont.

Gregory Alldritt - who picked up three man of the match awards during last season's competition has been passed fit to partner Charles Ollivon and Dylan Cretin in the backrow, while Toulouse hooker Julien Marchand gets the nod over Pierre Bourgarit at hooker, with Racing 92's Camille Chat out injured.

Argentina-born Ignacio Brex makes his Italian debut in the entre, while Franco Smith has opted for a youthful half-back partnership, with 20-year-old Paolo Garbisi joining Gloucester's 19-year-old scrumhalf Stephen Varney in the starting team.

The sides kick off the 2021 Six Nations Championship at 2.15pm this Saturday

ITALY

Jacopo Truller: Luca Sperandio, Marco Zanon, Ignacio Brex, Montanna Ioane; Paolo Garbisi, Stephen Varney; Cherif Traorè, Luca Bigi (capt), Marco Riccioni, Marco Lazzaroni, David Sisi, Sebastian Negri, Johan Meyer, Michele Lamaro.

Replacements: 16 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17 Danilo Fischetti, 18 Giosué Zilocchi, 19 Niccolò Cannone, 20 Federico Ruzza, 21 Maxime Mbandà, 22 Guglielmo Palazzani, 23 Carlo Canna.

FRANCE

Brice Dulin; Teddy Thomas, Arthur Vincent, Gaël Fickou, Gabin Villière; Matthieu Jalibert, Antoine Dupont; Cyril Baille, Julien Marchand, Mohamed Haouas, Bernard Le Roux, Paul Willemse, Dylan Cretin, Charles Ollivon (capt), Gregory Alldritt.

Replacements: 16 Pierre Bourgarit, 17 Francois Gros, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Anthony Jelonch, 21 Baptiste Serin, 22 Louis Carbonel, 23 Damian Penaud.

Team of Us. Everyone In.

Vodafone. The main sponsor of the Irish Rugby Team.

Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!

Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.


Read more about

Fabien Galthie Gabin Villiere Six Nations 2021 Teddy Thomas Toulouse