By Brendan McGilligan
All regimes must come to an end.
In the week that Warren Gatland decided to call time on his torturous second spell in charge of Wales, the rugby world may be looking at which other coaches may be feeling the heat.
While many within the rugby world may believe Steve Borthwick’s position as England head coach could be under threat and others may believe it could be time for Scotland to move on from Gregor Townsend, it is actually the French Rugby Federation that needs a fresh start.
Questions about the future of Fabien Galthié were silenced following a comprehensive 43-0 victory over Wales; this would put the wheels in motion for a number of things.
The beginning of the end for Gatland at Wales, a tormenting running challenge for Rhodri Williams, and the chat of a Grand Slam for France.
However, one of these was quickly halted in round two.
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England Loss
The majority of pundits, journalists, and fans would not have expected an English victory, but for the French deciding to dip their hands in oil before the match as they made 19 handling errors, with four of these as they looked like they were about to touchdown for a try.
Now with their dreams of a second Grand Slam under Galthié lying on the floor in ruins, they can still lift the championship trophy but will need to travel to Dublin and beat the Irish.
Simon Easterby’s Ireland secured a second bonus point victory of the competition at the weekend to give them a four-point advantage at the top of the table.
The current champions look determined to defend their crown.
The Boys In Green weathered an English storm in the first round before showing the Scottish what a championship-winning side truly looks like, and they will expect to win their next fixture against a Wales in disarray and overcome the Italians in Rome.
This means when they face France in Dublin, it will be for the Grand Slam.
Another year under Galthié, and another year without silverware?
It is looking likely, and this is with arguably the greatest ever French side in terms of talent.
Wasting Talent?
Is he wasting this squad?
Could someone else take this squad into a domineering force that can claim multiple Six Nations championships, Grand Slams, and the coveted Webb Ellis Trophy?
These questions are what the FFR needs to consider.
France have boasted they currently have the best rugby player in the world in their squad; however they can make a strong argument that in each position on the pitch they have the best player.
So with that being the case, how has Galthié only won a solitary Six Nations championship and Grand Slam?
In 2024, they were without their dynamic talent Antoine Dupont as he embarked on glory in the sevens at the Olympics.
So surely it is only fair that they were unable to claim the title.
However, that is a poor mindset and attitude to have regarding this, and it is easily forgotten that Ireland were in a similar position as Hugo Keenan opted to play sevens when Ireland travelled to South Africa for the summer test series, and the Irish still managed to claim a draw against the world champions in that series.
Falling Short
In 2023 they only missed out on the title due to Ireland being an unstoppable machine in that championship, obliterating every side in the tournament that year.
This same year they were expected to be crowned world champions, deemed favourites at a home tournament, but they would be unable to overcome South Africa in the quarter-final.
In 2022 they were crowned Grand Slam champions and were the envy of every nation in the world.
The year before, they threw away the championship crown, as they lost to Scotland in the final match of the tournament as Duhan van der Merwe scored a try after the 80th minute for a 14-man Scotland to break French hearts.
Galthié’s first year in charge of the national team was in 2020, and he guided them to second, where once again they may believe that they threw away the championship as they lost to Scotland in Murrayfield, losing out on the title by points scored to England.
Every year, bar 2022, the French under Galthié have a performance that deviates from the norm, but it tends to be detrimental to their campaign.
Club vs International
While you could argue it is the players on the field failing to execute the game plan, and that it may be an issue with them, it must be remembered that French clubs have dominated European rugby during the tenure of Galthié.
La Rochelle and Toulouse have claimed four of the five Champions Cups since the 2002 World Rugby Player of the Year took charge of his nation, and the majority of the current French squad is made up of players from these clubs along with Bordeaux Begles.
So is it time for the reins of the national team to be handed to someone else?
Favourites for the role, should the FFR decide to act and remove the 55-year-old from the role, will be either La Rochelle head coach Ronan O’Gara, who has spoken previously about how it would be an honour to take charge of France, and Toulouse head coach Ugo Mola.
While it may be a desire to move on and try and get the final piece at the top to bring the success the nation experienced during the 2000s with Bernard Laporte at the helm, it must be remembered where France were between 2010, their last Grand Slam before 2022, and the Galthié era.
Steered the Ship
It is important we remember that French rugby was lost in the wilderness during this period, with Galthié finally steadying the ship and helping bring them back into the elite of the sport at an international level.
Les Bleus became a laughing stock during the 2010s, finishing in the top half of the Six Nations on only two occasions from their 2010 title until the current head coach took charge in 2020.
In this embarrassing period for the nation, they finished bottom in 2013, fifth in 2016, and fourth on five occasions.
This is why the decision to move on from Galthié is a tough one, as should they decide to part ways with their head coach, who has the best win percentage of any French head coach, they could once again disappear into the abyss.
However, with the talent at the disposal of whoever succeeds Galthié, this should not be the case.
So, will France stick with him until the end of his contract and allow him to guide them to the 2027 World Cup, or will they opt to take the risk to move on to change things while also giving the next head coach time to get their ideas across ahead of the competition in Australia?
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