'It's complete BS' - All Blacks legend Justin Marshall slams France's approach to NZ tour
Six Nations champions France will be without a host of their frontline players for their three-Test series against the All Blacks, with star names such as Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Damian Penaud, Thomas Ramos and Gregory Alldritt given the summer off by Fabien Galthié after a physically demanding season.
Galthié has named 17 uncapped players in his initial 37-man squad, with only three — tour skipper Gael Fickou, Leinster tighthead Rabah Slimani, and Racing lock Romain Taofifenua — boasting over 50 Test appearances.
France's squad will be strengthened for the second and third Tests by five members of the two Top 14 finalists, Toulouse and Bordeaux-Begles.
Those players will be named when the results of fitness tests performed after Saturday's final are known.
But speaking on The Breakdown show on Sky Sport in his native New Zealand, former All Black scrum-half Justin Marshall said Galthié's developmental approach to the series bore the hallmarks of 'disrespect' towards international rugby.
'To be honest, I'm really disappointed,' Marshall said. 'Look, the side that the French have bought is clearly underpowered. At the end of the day, the average age [is] 25 and the average number of caps [is] 9.3.
'This is a side that has a very little amount of experience. At the end of the day, there's 49% of the players have got no caps at all. So, it's a development team with a few senior players involved.
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'In my mind, it's complete BS the way that they're treating this tour, the way that the French always seem to have come up with excuses to not bring their top players. I feel they disrespect the international window.'
Marshall expressed his belief that the tour could still be competitive, but cited the commercial importance of the series to New Zealand Rugby as cause for dissatisfaction with Galthié's selection.
'Our fans deserve to see their best players playing in our country against our All Blacks because we do that in November to them: we send our very best players for filling their stadiums and giving the fans the best experience they can get by seeing the best players in the world.
'They are not doing that,' said Marshall, who had a short stint in France with Montpellier during his playing career. 'And if they keep doing this, which is quite regular for them, just don't invite them. We'll play someone else.
'Look, it's still going to be a good series, and they'll be competitive, and they've got depth.
'But the reality is, they've left 70% of their best players in France, and I just don't feel that that is within the decency and the respect of the game.'
Marshall's fellow former All Black, Jeff Wilson, meanwhile, questioned the merits of France's approach as far as it pertains to developing their squad for the future.
Wilson, who also represented his country in cricket, argued that selecting a full squad to face New Zealand away from home would have been better preparation for Les Bleus ahead of the 2027 World Cup, which takes place in Australia.
'They are absolutely going to go out there and compete and prepare the best they can', Wilson said, 'but when push comes to shove, experience goes a long, long way and you're playing the All Blacks in New Zealand.
'The part I'm disappointed about is that if they genuinely want to win a World Cup at some point, you want to give yourself the best opportunity to do that. You have to take on the top teams away from home, because in two years' time a World Cup is being played in Australia, and that's familiar territory to us.'
The first Test between New Zealand and France will take place in Dunedin this Saturday, 5 July, with the second Test set for Wellington a week later. Hamilton will host the final Test on Saturday, 19 July.
Fullback Cheikh Tiberghien and wing Gabin Villière are injury worries for France just five days out from the series opener.
Gabin Villière in action against New Zealand at the 2023 World Cup. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO
Both back-three players had been expected to start in Dunedin, with Les Bleus currently looking short of options in each of their positions.
Villière, one of the more seasoned players in Galthié's squad with 18 caps, sat out training after feeling pain in the warm-up, while Tiberghien limped off during the training session before having strapping applied to his right thigh.
Tiberghien's Bayonne clubmate, Tom Spring, who can cover wing or fullback, also sat out the training session, while potential fullback option Léo Barré has yet to join the squad as he continues to recover from the unspecified injury that ruled him out of the tour warm-up victory over an England side missing their Lions.
'There were some problems during training but we have yet to hear back from the medical staff,' said France assistant coach Laurent Sempere.
In the absences of Villière, Tiberghien and Spring during training, Galthié slotted in Theo Attissogbe at fullback and deployed Emilien Gailleton and Alivereti Duguivalu on the wings.
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