The day is finally upon us, as the 2026 Guinness Men’s Six Nations gets underway tonight in Paris. France host Ireland for a blockbuster opening bout, as the Thursday night lights of the Stade de France provide the perfect back-drop to ignite the competition. The two Northern Hemisphere titans have selected sides brimming with international star-power, however there are some glaring exclusions from the French side for this year’s competition.
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France head coach Fabien Galthie left centre stalwart Gael Fickou out of the his entire training squad, with the 98-capped international failing to make the grade for a role in Les Bleus’ title defence. The decision sent shock-waves through the rugby world, as Fickou, along with France’s all-time top try scorer Damien Penaud, and co-captain back row Gregory Alldritt, all missed out on a place in the wider squad.
Ireland centre Garry Ringrose admitted that he was suprised to learn that he will not be reigniting his midfield rivalry with Fickou in this year’s competition. The Leinster midfielder has been named to start for Andy Farrell’s side, where he faces up against a centre pairing of Yoram Moefana and Nicolas Depoortere.
“Fickou is one of the best centres in the world.” Ringrose said, at Ireland’s training camp in Quinta do Lago, Portugal. “Is he a couple short [of 100 caps], well I guess that speaks for itself. I’ve heard he’s a leader amongst the team. So to ask me was I surprised, yeah I was.
“Then at the same time, was I surprised to see the other centres that were picked in it? No, because of the quality that they’ve been delivering for their clubs. So it’s definitely a very competitive position for them. And they’ve a whole host of players that can 100 per cent deliver at a top-class level.”
Looking at Nicolas Depoortere, the 23-year-old has been a blistering presence in the Bordeaux-Begles midfield since he signed his first professional contract with the club in 2022. Depoortere was pivotal to Yannick Bru’s side that claimed their first ever Investec Champions Cup in 2025, as he starred in the 13 jersey for the triumph over Northampton Saints in Cardiff.
Depoortere has accrued eight France caps so far in his senior international career, as he prepares to make his ninth tonight an all-Bordeuax midfield alongside Moefana. “All their centres, they’re exceptional.” Ringrose added. “With some of the tries and line breaks they create, then also defensively, what they deliver for their team, both sides of the ball. Yeah, he’s [Depoortere] exceptional.”
France enter the fray with a plethora of fierce attacking options across their back-line. The side is spear-headed by the returning Antoine Dupont, with the unpredictable Matthieu Jalibert pulling the strings at fly half. The triple threat of Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Theo Attissogbe and Thomas Ramos round of the wings and fullback slots, in a star-studded back-line set to deploy tonight at the Stade de France.
“It’s tricky because of the sheer pace they have.” Ringrose added. “Their off-loading ability, their kicking game, footballing pre-contact, footballing in contact, so they can create something from nothing. They can also just create something from doing what they do well. So you kind of need to be all court defensively, and alert for absolutely everything if you want to stop them.”
“They can play slightly different to maybe what you would experience and see week in, week out in the URC. They have a unique style about them. Equally to other countries, they have a unique style about them in their DNA. Their ability to pick through the ruck and play close to the ruck, which then tightens defences and creates space out wide.
“Their offload ability, their attack and kicking game. When you have Ramos there, all their wingers can kick and chase unbelievably well. So, they certainly have a DNA amongst them that you need to be prepared for. It’s a little bit different to what you’d experience in the URC.”
Whilst Fabien Galthie has been spoiled for choice upon his midfield selection, the same cannot be said for Ireland head coach Andy Farrell. Robbie Henshaw is back on the injury side-lines after the Leinster man sustained a knee injury in the Dubliners’ Champions Cup win over Bayonne in mid-January. All the while, Bundee Aki faces a three-match ban for descent, after breaching on-field conduct in his discussions with the URC match officials, following Connacht’s recent derby defeat to Leinster.
Whilst Ringrose has spent the majority of his Test match career alongside either Aki or Henshaw, the 31-year-old is enticed by the opportunity to form a new midfield axis for tonight’s clash. Ulster’s Stuart McCloskey has been picked to start at inside centre, following a hot run of form with the Belfast side.
“I love the opportunity to get to play with any of the lads, Stuart as well. We have a good relationship off the pitch, get on well and then that transfers onto the pitch. He’s pretty easy to get along with. All the centres, any combination it’s been over the last couple of years, there’s a certain standard that we’re challenged to uphold and play to. That’s the same for myself, Stu, whoever it is.
“The nature of the centre position, there’s usually changes because of the injury profile and even selection [on] form. We’ve got to be ready to deliver and play to the standard that’s expected of us. He’s [McCloskey] brilliant with the ball in hand for such a big man, with the carrying capabilities that he has.
“He’s an unbelievably good footballer at the line and through contact as well. I’ve got to try and react to be as connected to the ball as possible, because he has the ability to pull things off that I certainly can’t. Similar to Tom Farrell. He has it in his game too, in terms of being able to keep the ball alive that he shows for Munster and he showed it over November [for Ireland] as well.”
It is fair to say that Ireland have been hit with an ‘injury crisis’ ahead of the 2026 Six Nations, with an array of front row unavailabilities coupled with key side-lined stars across the back-line. Flying fullback Hugo Keenan was the latest to withdraw from the preparations, as the back-three star fractured his thumb in training out in Portugal.
It’s a brutal break for Keenan, who had not played since the British & Irish Lions tour following a pre-planned operation on a long standing hip issue. Ringrose shared his support for his Leinster teammate, in what will only re-open the contention for places for the Ireland 15 shirt.
“It was unbelievably unfortunate to see him pick up a small injury in training there last week. Considering how hard he’s worked to get back. You see him working early mornings, late evenings in the gym in Leinster, putting in countless hours with his physios.
“So yeah, he worked his backside off to get back. So it was just unlucky, unbelievably unlucky. Unfair to a certain extent, but it’s the nature of the beast I guess. I’ve no doubt he’ll still be in camp to help us because he’s an unbelievable set of eyes, reading the game and attacking defence. I’m sure he’ll be still in and we’ll lean on him until he’s back fit.”
Rounding off the pre-match discussion ahead of tonight’s main event, Ringrose cast his mind back to the same fixture from last year’s Championships as some last-minute motivation. Ireland were well beaten by Les Bleus in a 42-27 defeat in Dublin, as Ringrose reiterated the need for a hot start against Galthie’s men.
“I was watching that, after I missed the game with the red card against Wales. It was a pretty pleasing first half, I was going back over it again there yesterday. Maybe we didn’t quite convert the opportunities we created and then they grew into the game.
“They’re unbelievably dangerous with their counter-attack, but then their forwards are doing the simple things really well and creating tries. I think of that maul try, so I can’t pinpoint it on one thing necessarily, but they got their game going and imposed it on us pretty well and the result sort of speaks for itself.”
“First one, it’s away in Paris, so we’re going to have to be close to our best to get a result that we’ll be happy with and get a performance that we’ll be happy with. So the focus is purely on that. I wouldn’t call it any formula necessarily, other than just attacking it to get our best performance possible.”
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