France call up two uncapped rookies as injury crisis deepens ahead of Fiji clash

France have been forced into two more squad changes ahead of their Nations Championship fixture against Fiji in Lyon on Saturday, calling up uncapped rookies Charles Kanté Samba and Antoine Deliance to replace the injured Anthony Jelonch and Joshua Brennan.

Jelonch and Brennan both picked up injuries over the weekend while playing for Toulouse against Pau in the Top 14. Back-rower Jelonch had himself only joined the squad a week earlier as injury cover for Union Bordeaux Bègles’ Marko Gazzotti — a selection that had already drawn scrutiny given how little rugby he had played this season.

Kanté Samba, a 6‘7 lock from La Rochelle, and Lyon blindside Antoine Deliance are both 21 years old and former France U20 internationals. Neither has been capped at senior level, though both have been regular fixtures in their clubs’ matchday squads this season.

The latest arrivals are symptomatic of a mounting injury crisis around head coach Fabien Galthié. In the fortnight since he named his original squad, France have lost Gazzotti, Fabien Brau-Boirie, Antoine Hastoy, Karl Sorin, Jelonch, and Brennan — six players in total — to injury, with the majority struck down during Top 14 action.

The scale of the disruption means Galthié now has little choice but to lean on inexperienced options, with Kanté Samba and Deliance potentially in line for senior debuts against Fiji.