Fabien Galthie will reportedly persist with the forward-heavy bench approach popularised by Rassie Erasmus and Springboks.

During his tenure as France’s head coach, Galthie has regularly selected a 6-2 split in favour of the forwards, but he doubled down in response to Les Bleus’ defeat to England.

For the Six Nations round three match against Italy, he selected seven forwards and one back on his replacement bench – a tactic the Springboks utilised on three occasions in 2023 and once last year.

The ploy paid huge dividends as France ran in 11 tries to thrash Italy 73-24 in Rome and after its success last time out, Galthie is set to persist with the tactic.

France persist with Les Bomb Squad

According to several reports in France, the 7-1 split on the bench will be used once again despite the only time the tactic has failed for the Springboks being against Ireland.

Then-head coach Jacques Nienaber selected the forward-heavy bench for the Rugby World Cup pool stage match against the Irish, with South Africa succumbing to an 8-13 defeat with Ireland holding firm in the final moments of the game.

That result has not scared Galthie off though, with the France boss set to make a handful of changes to his matchday 23.

Gregory Alldritt is in doubt for what could be the Six Nations title decider and could be replaced in the starting XV by Anthony Jelonch.

“He felt a little discomfort during the warm-up, at the top of the groin. We will see this evening. Normally, he is expected to train tomorrow. So it’s fine, no revolution for the moment,” France assistant coach Patrick Arlettaz said of Alldritt’s absence in training.

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If the brilliant number eight is fit for the fixture, it is reported that Jelonch will remain on the bench with Alexandre Roumat dropping out of the matchday 23 with Hugo Auradou favoured instead.

After being made somewhat of a scapegoat for the defeat to England, Damian Penaud is set to return to the starting XV in the place of Theo Attissogbe, who falls out of the squad entirely.

Despite a starring role in the victory over Italy, Leo Barre is set to drop out of the team with Romain Ntamack returning from suspension to start at fly-half as Thomas Ramos shifts to full-back.

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Emmanuel Meafou missed the win over Italy but is set to add more weight to the bench in the 7-1 split with Mickael Guillard retained in the second row alongside Thibaud Flament.

Bordeaux half-back Maxime Lucu is set to be the sole backline player on the bench which was the case against the Azzurri.

Reported France team to face Ireland

France: 15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Pierre-Louis Barassi, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Antoine Dupont, 8 Gregory Alldritt or Anthony Jelonch, 7 Paul Boudehent, 6 Francois Cros, 5 Mickaël Guillard, 4 Thibaud Flament, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements: 16 Julien Marchand, 17 Cyril Baille, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Emmanuel Meafou, 20 Hugo Auradou, 21 Oscar Jegou, 22 Anthony Jelonch or Alexandre Roumat, 23 Maxime Lucu

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Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/france-to-back-springboks-bomb-squad-tactics-despite-its-failure-against-ireland