France vs Fiji Nations Championship rugby match, Digi Mart USA News (Groupama Stadium, near Lyon, France): Six days before facing South Africa’s Springboks in a rematch of the 2023 Rugby World Cup quarter-final, the French national rugby team, Les Bleus, will host Fiji on Saturday, November 7, at the Groupama Stadium near Lyon. The fourth round of the Nations Championship match is scheduled for 9:10 p.m.
Paris time and will be broadcast live on TF1 and streamed on TF1+.
Ireland, which beat Argentina 42-12 the previous day, currently holds the top position in the Northern Hemisphere standings. France can take that spot back with a win.
Coach Fabien Galthié will be able to rely on the most frequently used halfback partnership in French national team history, Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack. The Toulouse teammates have not played together for the French team in more than 600 days because of successive injuries.
Galthié said recently that the pair have considerable collective experience with the national side. “They are two top players for the French team, players who have won a lot with our team since 2020,” he told reporters.
With Thomas Ramos and Matthieu Jalibert unavailable, the Toulouse duo’s role in directing the game will be even more important, and there is little room for error.
France and Fiji have met 12 times, with France winning 11 of those matches. Fiji, ranked ninth in the World Rugby standings, won 21-14 at the Stade de France in November 2018, a match Dupont attended.
Dupont called for the team to “learn the lessons of the past.” “They have players with extraordinary qualities, whom we see shine every weekend in our championship, so we cannot be sufficient and start this match at half pace,” he warned.
