Dupont and Ntamack return to France rugby halfback pairing, Digi Mart USA News (Lyon, France): The most-used halfback partnership in France’s rugby history, with 29 combined starts before Saturday, has been disrupted since preparations for the 2023 World Cup. A serious knee injury to Romain Ntamack in a friendly match began a first run of 538 days without the two players lining up together in the blue jersey.
Their return during the 2025 Six Nations was brief. In the first match against Wales, where they played a little more than a half together, Romain Ntamack was sent off.
He then missed the next two matches, and when he returned on March 8 against Ireland, Antoine Dupont suffered a serious knee injury after 30 minutes.
Since then, absences have continued. In November 2025, Antoine Dupont had not yet recovered from his injury.
Romain Ntamack, affected by multiple setbacks including a kidney problem, missed the 2026 Six Nations, and Antoine Dupont missed the July matches because of a calf discomfort.
“Even though they have played little in this second term, they still have significant collective experience with the French team,” Fabien Galthié said Thursday at a press conference. “They are two top players for the French team, players who have won a lot with our team since 2020.”
The pair are “both in form,” according to the reports. On Saturday, French supporters in Lyon will see this halfback pairing again in the fourth round of the Championship of Nations, a new competition replacing the traditional November European tour of Southern Hemisphere teams.
With Thomas Ramos and Matthieu Jalibert absent, the Toulouse duo’s role in directing the game will be even more important. Attack coach Patrick Arlettaz said Tuesday, “We are delighted because they are both in form and very competitive since the end of last season.”
Dupont and Ntamack have been able to develop their understanding at Toulouse, where they have been regularly selected since the start of the season and have played seven matches together. The rest of the France lineup, revealed Thursday, follows the trends of training sessions over the past two weeks.
Right prop Sipili Falatea, from Bordeaux, will make his first start since July 2021, alongside Maxime Lamothe and Jean-Baptiste Gros. An experimental back row will consist of Paul Boudehent, Cameron Woki and François Cros.
In midfield, Kalvin Gourgues will make his first start alongside the regular Yoram Moefana, while Théo Attissogbe will play at fullback. On the bench, Esteban Capilla will make his first appearance in blue.
Galthié has been without about fifteen players due to injury, including Toulouse forwards Julien Marchand, Emmanuel Meafou, Thibault Flament and Anthony Jelonch, Pau center Fabien Brau-Boirie, and, at Wednesday’s last training session, La Rochelle back-row Oscar Jegou.
