Julien Marchand

Julien Marchand is the hooker Toulouse have built their set piece around for the better part of a decade, and France have used him as the same thing whenever he has been fit.

The throwing is the job and he does it well under pressure, which is the only measure that matters at Test level. Toulouse’s maul, one of the most productive in Europe, starts with the assumption that the ball arrives where it is supposed to.

Around the field he is a genuine carrier — low, quick to the line, and comfortable in the wider channels that a Toulouse pack is expected to occupy.

The competition for the France shirt has been the defining feature of his international career rather than any deficiency in his play. France have produced several hookers of Test standard in the same decade, and selection has swung between them.

Fit and starting, he is as reliable as any of them.