a novice at the opening, former captain Gaëlle Hermet and Jessy Trémoulière on the bench with the Bleues to face Italy

For its entry into the running in the Six Nations Tournament, the staff of the French women’s team unveiled, on Friday March 24, the composition of its team which faces Italy, Sunday March 26 (at 4 p.m., live on France 2 and on francetv) in Parma.

For the occasion, the new duo of coaches, Gaëlle Mignot and David Ortiz, decided to establish the young opening half of the Bordeaux Stadium, Carla Arbez (23 years old). She will thus discover a match with the national team in the shoes of a holder. She thus replaces Caroline Drouin, holder of the position during the last World Cup but who is dedicated to the France team at VII for the Olympic Games in Paris. The Bordeaux opener will be associated in hinge with the experienced Pauline Bourdon (45 selections), who had replaced at short notice her companion and Toulouse teammate Laure Sansus during the World Cup. “Carla is having very good matches with her club Bordeaux.explained Gaëlle Mignot, coach coach of the XV of France. The idea today is to launch her in this tournament because she shows that she can hold this rank. And we have Jessy Trémoulière on the bench who brings his experience and who will be able to accompany him.

Another surprise, the former captain and third line wing Gaëlle Hermet (50 caps) will start on the bench, as will the former best player in the world in 2018, Jessy Trémoulière, who announced her retirement from international football at the end of the Tournament. . “The desire to put Gaëlle on the bench is also to provide expertise at the end of the match. She is a line leader”, recalled Gaëlle Mignot. The second line Audrey Forlani (57 selections) will wear the captain’s armband of the France team, as announced by the management at the start of the gathering of the Blue.

The rest of the team includes a majority of players who won bronze in Auckland last November, including hooker Agathe Sochat (27 years old, 42 caps), and pillars Annaëlle Deshaye (27 years old, 40 caps) and Assia Khalfaoui ( 23 years old, 10 caps.), i.e. the entire first line of the Bordeaux stadium.