France Relies on Dupont at Fly-Half for Clash Against South Africa

France captain Antoine Dupont will shift to the fly-half position for Friday's Nations Championship encounter against South Africa in Paris. Dupont, a specialist scrum-half who has only a limited number of appearances wearing the number 10 jersey, was selected due to an absence of regular options.

The positional shift became necessary for the national team following injuries and unavailability affecting Matthieu Jalibert, Romain Ntamack, Thomas Ramos, and Antoine Hastoy. While fellow scrum-half Maxime Lucu possessed more recent club-level experience starting at fly-half for Bordeaux-Begles, France coach Fabian Galthie ultimately chose Dupont, who previously filled the role for Toulouse during a 2023-24 season injury shortage.

To address the forward strength of the opposing team, Galthie recalled hooker Julien Marchand and number eight Gregory Alldritt to the starting lineup. In addition, Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang is set to earn his fourth cap on the wing. Grandidier-Nkanang secured an Olympic gold medal alongside Dupont in Sevens during 2024 prior to returning to the 15-a-side format with Pau.

South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus noted ahead of the match that Dupont relies heavily on instinct during play. The visiting side enters the fixture having made a single change to the lineup that defeated Italy 66-7, with Wilco Louw stepping in for prop Thomas du Toit. Historical statistics show South Africa winning nine out of their past 10 Test matches against France.

The complete French lineup features Attissogbe, Grandidier-Nkanang, Gourgues, Moefana, Bielle-Biarrey, Dupont, Lucu, Falatea, Marchand, Gros, Verhaeghe, Guillard, Cros, Woki, and Alldritt.