France Turn to Antoine Dupont at Fly-Half as Injuries Test Their Hopes Against South Africa

France vs South Africa Nations Championship rugby, Digi Mart USA News: France host South Africa at the Stade de France on Friday night in a match many expect to decide the inaugural Nations Championship, as the two sides are widely seen as the strongest teams in the competition, according to The Guardian’s report.

France are back-to-back Six Nations champions and South Africa are back-to-back world champions. The Guardian notes that South Africa have won nine of the last 10 meetings between the teams, including the last five in Paris, and that France’s only win in that period came in Marseille in 2022.

The most recent defeats have stung. A 29-28 World Cup quarter-final loss in 2023 left France feeling close but further away, and South Africa later beat them 32-17 despite playing half the match with 14 men.

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus said his team tends to rise for France and that complacency is not an issue for them.

France’s preparation has been complicated by injuries. Coach Fabien Galthié has used more than 100 players since June 2024, and 30 of them are currently injured.

The Guardian reports that the absences are sharpest at fly-half, where Matthieu Jalibert, Romain Ntamack, Thomas Ramos and Antoine Hastoy are all unavailable.

Galthié has responded by selecting Antoine Dupont at fly-half, with Maxime Lucu at scrum-half. Dupont last played there regularly for Toulouse during an injury crisis in 2024, while Lucu filled in at fly-half last week after Ntamack was injured against Fiji.

Galthié described the pairing as the best solution available.

South Africa also have absences, including Frans Malherbe, RG Snyman, Kwagga Smith, André Esterhuizen, Handré Pollard and Cheslin Kolbe. Erasmus has still assembled a pack whose eight forwards have almost as many caps between them as the entire French starting XV, according to the report.

Galthié has recalled Julien Marchand and Grégory Alldritt for experience, but the French side is otherwise young, with seven players having fewer than five caps each. Galthié has also replaced foreign coaches Shaun Edwards and Vlok Cilliers with staff working in the Top 14 league, including Maxime Petitjean and Geoffrey Doumayrou.