France coach Fabien Galthie has defended sending a weakened squad to face the All Blacks in three tests in July, saying the workload for French players was much greater than for those who play in New Zealand.
Galthie has named a squad of 28 for an A international against England at Twickenham on Saturday and will add more players from the teams that lose the domestic Top 14 semi-finals this weekend.
The squad will be completed with the addition of a maximum of five players from the two Top 14 finalists after the French championship is decided on June 28, although they will be unavailable for the first test against the All Blacks in Dunedin on July 5.
“I am aware of their schedule,” Galthie told a news conference at France’s training centre Marcoussis on Tuesday.
“They began their domestic season in February and are now wrapping it up, averaging eight matches. And they are entering a period that is exclusively dedicated to the national team.
“We just have to explain the constraints that come with our schedule.
“We have no other option. I think it’s quite clear. Otherwise, the New Zealanders need to help us reinvent our national schedule. That’s part of the specifics of each country.”
New Zealand’s five top teams play 14 matches plus playoffs in the Super Rugby Pacific season, although there are mandated rest weeks for the top All Blacks to manage their workload.
By contrast, the Top 14 season started last September and French test players have also played European tournaments, November internationals and the Six Nations over that period.
Galthie said the France coaching staff had become past masters at preparing their squads for tests in a very short timeframe.
“It’s our daily bread,” he added. “This is how we have been preparing our French team for six years. Sometimes we have a little more than five days, but we’re used to having little time to prepare a team.
“We have to be both simple, so as not to overload the players with content, and precise, so that the players can step onto the field with maximum confidence. You really have to be fair. You can’t get lost in too many details.”
Scumhalf Antoine Dupont is unavailable for the tour after undergoing knee surgery in March, but many top France players will be involved in the Top 14 semi-finals, which pitch Toulouse against Bayonne and Bordeaux-Begles against Toulon.
The All Blacks name their squad for the series on Monday. The second test is in Wellington on July 12 with the series wrapping up in Auckland the following weekend.
