Robinson on board, but can he fire French to victory?

France could be forgiven for being in two minds for ahead of this World Cup. They will have the best squad that they have been able to field in a long time, made up entirely of Super League players – and some very good ones at that – but will also be conscious that this tournament is not necessarily the one that matters.

With the tournament set to return to its spiritual home in 2025, les Chanticleers could be forgiven for prioritising the big one and going for youth. No such thing, however.

France have underperformed at World Cups for a long time and will see this year’s edition as a major opportunity to make an impact now.

The trouble is, of course, that they’re in a group with England, the hosts, and Samoa, the dark horses. Sacre bleu indeed.

With coach Laurent Frayssinous and his Director of Rugby, some bloke called Trent Robinson, they won’t struggle for nous, and their playing talent is battle-hardened.

The Catalans Dragons made the Super League Grand Final last year and Toulouse Olympique joined them in the top flight for 2022, giving France two clubs’ worth of native players to pick from, plus a few scattered over the water in England.

Though they will be the only team not to field an NRL player, don’t go around thinking they’ll be making up the numbers.

Certainties

France’s midseason win over Wales saw 12 Dragons and four Olympians, so let’s get through them first. The captain, Ben Garcia has nearly 200 games of Super League in him, while Julian Bousquet has already passed that mark.

Fouad Yaha is the Catalans’ all-time top tryscorer on while Ben Jullien and Mickaël Goudemand are firmly in club legend status now in Perpginan. There’s younger guys like Alrix da Costa, Arthur Romano, Paul Seguier and Matthieu Laguerre too.

Arthur Morgue is kept out of the No.1 jersey at the Dragons by starting England fullback Sam Tomkins, but will likely take it for France. He’s a gun.

From the Toulouse side, you get Romain Navarrette, a veteran of many Super League campaigns, plus Eloi Pelissier, the obligatory French hooker with his socks round his ankles. They’ve had one per team since about 1930.

Anthony Marion and Paul Marcon turned out against the Welsh and have been playing for TO XIII every week, so are ins for the World Cup.

The Wales game saw the French missing their two standout players: Theo Fages and Tony Gigot. On his day, Gigot is one of the most exciting players in the world, and that’s no understatement. His day is somewhat infrequent, but he does tend to arc up for the big occasions – when the Catalans won the Challenge Cup, he was man of the match.

Fages is more consistent player and has been on the best halfbacks in Super League for a long time. He’s vital for France.

Probables 

Former Sydney Rooster Samisoni Langi has been with the Catalans so long that he qualifies on residency and will play in the World Cup.

Joe Chan, son of for Kiwi international Alex, came through the juniors in France and is set to join Melbourne Storm next year. He, and his brother Tiaki Chan, are in with a shot.

Possibles

As mentioned, France are quite settled but there are a few options that are yet to feature. Jordan Dezaria and Gadwin Springer are massive options off the bench, both metaphorically and physically – and even they are dwarfed by Corentin Le Cam, all 2.07m of him. They could all come in.

Hakim Miloudi and Mathieu Jussaume are options in the backs, as are Louis Jouffret, Cesar Rouge and Lucas Albert in the halves.

Predicted France squad

1 Arthur Morgue
2 Paul Marcon
3 Arthur Romano
4 Samisoni Langi
5 Fouad Yaha
6 Tony Gigot
7 Theo Fages
8 Julian Bousquet
9 Alrix da Costa
10 Romain Navarrette
11 Ben Jullien
12 Joe Chan
13 Ben Garcia
14 Eloi Pelissier
15 Jordan Dezaria
16 Anthony Marion
17 Mickaël Goudemand
18 Gadwin Springer
19 Matthieu Laguerre
20 Paul Seguier
21 Matthieu Jussaume
22 Louis Jouffret
23 Corentin Le Cam
24 Cesar Rouge