Fabien Galthie is set to make drastic changes to his France matchday 23 for the Six Nations clash against Italy this weekend, according to reports.

Veteran centre Gael Fickou is fit again but will reportedly not feature against the Azzurri with Yoram Moefana and Pierre-Louis Barassi set to be tasked with containing the Italians’ brilliant pairing of Juan Ignacio Brex and Tommaso Menoncello.

Following the 26-25 defeat to England in round two of the tournament, France boss Galthie is set to go nuclear with his changes as he backs the Springboks’ infamous 7-1 split on the bench.

Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber first deployed the forward-heavy bench against the All Blacks at Twickenham Stadium before the Rugby World Cup securing a record 35-7 victory over their rivals.

They would use the tactic again during the World Cup including in the final as they claimed a 12-11 victory over New Zealand.

Fabien Galthie to roll the dice

The tactic has drawn huge backlash, particularly from ex-Scotland coach Matt Williams who has slammed the 6-2 and 7-1 splits as an ‘abuse of safety laws’ and claimed that it ‘discriminates against backs’.

Most recently the outspoken pundit hit out at Scotland coach Gregor Townsend for selecting six forwards and two backs against Ireland and called on World Rugby to make changes to the laws.

“Over the following decades, law changes have once again empowered aggressive scrummaging,” he wrote in his Irish Times column.

“The reserve bench, which was introduced as a safety law to protect players’ spines in the 1980s, has metamorphosed into an instrument that has drastically reduced the number of backline players who can participate in the game and fuelled match-defining power to scrummaging that lawmakers in the 1980s could never have foreseen.”

Galthie has repeatedly made use of the 6-2 split for some time now but according to a report by L’Equipe, the France head coach will take it a step further and employ the criticised Springboks tactic in round three of the Six Nations.

Anthony Jelonch is set to make his return to Test rugby having last played for his country at the Rugby World Cup and is set to take one of the seven forward spots on the bench along with fellow returnee Romain Taofifenua.

Thibaud Flament is also set to return but in the starting XV with Alexandre Roumat dropping to the bench. Meanwhile, Emmanuel Meafou is understood to be suffering from a lung infection and will be replaced in the starting lineup by Mickaël Guillard.

Damian Penaud dropped!

The seven forwards on the bench are likely to be Julien Marchand, Cyril Baille, George-Henri Colombe, Hugo Auradou, Taofifenua, Roumat, and Jelonch. Finally, Bordeaux scrum-half Maxime Lucu is set to cover the backline with his ability to play at nine and ten.

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The changes Galthie is rumoured to be making extend to the starting lineup with Matthieu Jalibert dropping out of the squad entirely after failing to impress against England in the absence of Romain Ntamack.

This means that Thomas Ramos will shift into the number ten jersey to partner captain Antoine Dupont in the halfbacks with Leo Barre set to start at full-back.

Additionally, the France boss has ruthlessly cut winger Damian Penaud who scored and assisted a try in the defeat to England but also missed five of his seven attempted tackles. He will reportedly be replaced by Théo Attissogbe with Louis Bielle-Biarrey retained on the other wing.

Galthie’s tactics are not only in response to the defeat to England but also a ploy to avoid a repeat of the meeting during last year’s Six Nations. The Azzurri missed a late penalty which would have won the fixture for Italy with the game ending in a stalemate.

How France will reportedly lineup versus Italy

Starting XV: 15 Leo Barré, 14 Théo Attissogbe, 13 Pierre-Louis Barassi, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Thomas Ramos, 9 Antoine Dupont, 8 Gregory Alldritt, 7 Paul Boudehent, 6 Francois Cros, 5 Mickaël Guillard, 4 Thibaud Flament, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Bench: 16 Julien Marchand, 17 Cyril Baille, 18 George-Henri Colombe, 19 Hugo Auradou, 20 Romain Taofifenua, 21 Alexandre Roumat, 22 Anthony Jelonch, 23 Maxime Lucu