Fabien Galthié

Fabien Galthié is the head coach of France and the man who rebuilt Les Bleus into a side that expects to win. Born in Cahors in March 1969, he won 64 caps as a scrum-half between 1991 and 2003, captained France to the 2002 Six Nations Grand Slam and was named World Rugby Player of the Year that same year.

He moved into coaching immediately, winning the Top 14 with Stade Français in 2007 before spells at Montpellier and Toulon. Named in April 2019 as Jacques Brunel’s designated successor, he took charge after that year’s World Cup.

A long cycle, built deliberately

Galthié inherited a France side that had underachieved for a decade and immediately picked young. That patience paid off with the 2022 Grand Slam, and again with back-to-back Championships in 2025 and 2026 — the latter sealed by a 48–46 win over England on 14 March 2026, decided by a late Thomas Ramos penalty. Along the way France recorded a first home series win over New Zealand and put together a long unbeaten run at the Stade de France.

Style

France under Galthié defend with an aggressive blitz that squeezes space and forces errors, kick contestably rather than for territory alone, and target the collision relentlessly. Less visible but just as important is the squad management: he uses data heavily and rotates far more deeply than most international coaches, treating the four-year cycle rather than the next Saturday as the unit of planning. His contract runs to the 2027 World Cup.