French squad availability
In June 2024, with news of France's next tour being publicly known, French coach Fabien Galthié told L'Équipe that he had identified a group of 20 "premium" players that he wished to rest for their tour of New Zealand. [10] In October 2024, the French Rugby Federation (Fédération Française de Rugby; FFR), the governing body of rugby union in France, and the National Rugby League (Ligue nationale de rugby; LNR), the organisation that manages the Top 14, announced the signing of an agreement on the release of French Top 14 players for international duty from 2025 until mid-2026. [11] [12] In the agreement the provisions outlined stated that a foundational group of 42 players will be assembled in two phases for France's 2025 tour. [11] [12] Initially, 28 eligible players will be selected following the 2024–25 Top 14 play-off qualifiers (mid-June) to begin preparations for a France Development match, which will take place over the weekend of the 2024–25 Top 14 semi-finals. [11] [12] This cohort will subsequently be augmented by players from the clubs eliminated in the semi-finals, bringing the total to 42. Players from the 2024–25 Top 14 finalists, however, will be excluded from selection for these international periods. [11] [12] Thus, the top-performing French players would not be available for the French team touring New Zealand. [13] [14] [15]
The announcement of the agreement and the subsequent affect it would have on the tour received a lot of attention and criticism in New Zealand and on social media. The Times journalist Will Kelleher wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter): "Interesting this, that France are taking a second team to NZ. New Zealand Rugby (NZR) officials are livid about it, as it devalues a mega series, and their ability to market it..." [16] That same week New Zealand Rugby (NZR) announced they were surprised by the decision [17] and asked the governing body of rugby union internationally, World Rugby, to clarify the French availability policy, citing World Rugby regulations. [15] Former New Zealand international and Sky Sport pundit, Justin Marshall, stated: "We don't send our B team to play you at the end of the year because our players are tired. We send over our team to knock you over in your own backyard. Now, try and actually see it from our perspective that we want to have that environment." He added: "We want to have that feeling for our fans, for our people to see France with their number one team coming over here and taking us on... We treat you with respect. And I feel that if the French were to use the excuse of a long season and their players are tired, well, you know, that's just piss poor because we're exactly the same when we have to go in November, but we front." [18]
In March 2025, French players Grégory Alldritt and Romain Ntamack expressed their desire to play for France on the tour despite the restrictive selection policy. [19] Ntamack stated: "I don't really know yet what can be done or not, whether the finalists will be allowed to go to New Zealand. Maybe an exception will be made depending on the tour, because it's a pretty exceptional tour to go and play in New Zealand... Final or not, if we have to go, it will be with pleasure." [20]
In June 2025, Jean-Marc Lhermet, Vice-President of the French Rugby Federation announced a new agreement that was made with the National Rugby League that relaxed some of the previous restrictions that were put on French players within the Top 14. [21] In the new outlined conditions, French-eligible players that play for a Top 14 finalist team during the 2024–25 season would now be available for selection. However, only players that had played less than 2,000 minutes of match-time (citing World Rugby player safety guidelines) would be eligible for selection, with a maximum selection cap of five players. [22]
In June, the five players that were selected for France from the two Top 14 finalists were Joshua Brennan, Pierre-Louis Barassi, Nicolas Depoortère, Bastien Vergnes-Taillefer, and Pierre Bochaton.
New Zealand 
