4. Cyril Baille – France and Toulouse (Loosehead Prop)
Despite the recent World Cup ending injury to France fly-half Romain Ntamack understandably taking the headlines, one man who Fabien Galthie will be desperate to see return to full fitness is Cyril Baille. The loosehead prop is a true technician in the front row, with a ‘nauses’ knowledge of how to win scrum penalties. Baille is currently side-lined for Les Bleus, with a calf injury that on first report had him out for up to six weeks.
It has since been over four weeks since the news broke, with France’s scrum visibly faltering in the absence of the Toulouse man. Galthie will be putting his pack on the scrum machine this week, after an albeit weaker France side were dominated upfront by Uruguay. Baille is one of the key pillars of Galthie’s squad, and the 30-year-old will need to be on top form to maximise his nation’s hopes of winning their first Rugby World Cup.
A long-time resident of France’s Southern Occitanie region, Baille has been packing down the scrum for Toulouse since 2009. In a style akin to Healy at Leinster, Baille had an impressive collection of winners medals in no time with Toulouse. The French giants won the Champions Cup in his second season, before adding back-to-back Top 14 titles in the following years. Baille’s current haul of silverware includes five French league titles and two reigns as European champion.
Baille’s international call-up came in the Autumn of 2016, for an off the bench appearance in a win against Samoa. He featured as a front row cornerstone of each Six Nations campaign, and finally experienced the thrill of winning ‘Rugby’s Greatest Championship’ in the French Grand Slam of 2022. Baille’s ‘Bleus’ came close to repeating the feat in the latest competition, yet a decisive defeat to Grand Slam winners Ireland was the difference maker.
Should France and Ireland progress out of their groups, their is a 50% chance that the two sides will meet in the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup. You have to beat the best to be the best, and Baille would like nothing more to topple the world number ones, on his path to bring France their first Rugby World Cup title.
Tadhg Furlong – Ireland and Leinster (Tighthead Prop)
Honourable Mention: Zander Fagerson – Scotland and Glasgow Warriors (Tighthead Prop)
The first and only tighthead prop to make this list, Furlong has long spearheaded the conversation regarding world rugby’s best number threes. As well as being an out-and-out bruising ball carrier, Furlong’s X-factor is that he brings an unexpected side-stepping ability to the Irish front row. This does more than just get a pop out of the Aviva Stadium crowd, but it surprises even the most experienced defences, for second-guesses that create space for Furlong’s supporting options.
The Leinster man broke onto the international stage with his test match debut in the Summer of 2015, ahead of the upcoming Rugby World Cup. Despite the short notice, Ireland’s then Head Coach Joe Schmidt noticed his talents and booked him into the squad for the competition. The presence of Mike Ross meant that Furlong had to bide his time, but once the man from Cork hung up his test match boots in 2016, the stage was set for Furlong to step up to the tighthead mantle.
Furlong started all eight of Ireland’s test matches in the 2016/17 season, and led from kick-off in every match of the 2018 Grand Slam winning Six Nations campaign. The man from Wexford is an complete talent on the rugby pitch, and does not limit himself to mastering the skillset of a front rower. Furlong had to bide his time during the 2023 Six Nations, as he forewent the opening three rounds of the competition due to injury. Finlay Bealham did a fine job of holding down the three jersey in his absence, yet with Furlong back and firing well, Ireland have a serious chance of winning their first ever Rugby World Cup.
Furlong is immensely accomplished with Leinster, having never switched allegiances since his Dublin debut in 2013. Furlong is a four time winner of the league, and has reached the European rugby mountain top with a Champions Cup crown in 2018. Furlong has since been denied the opportunity to win his second Champions Cup title, in the last two back-to-back finals. La Rochelle have twice beaten Leinster in the competition’s finale, with Furlong eager to make a statement against the likes of Uini Antonio, Pierre Bourgarit and Reda Wardi, if Ireland and France pack down for a scrum in the Rugby World Cup knock-out stages.