France v Wales, Six Nations 2025: What time is kick-off and what TV channel is it on?
Wales' 2025 Six Nations Championship begins tomorrow evening with a daunting trip to play France in the tournament opener as Warren Gatland's 2024 wooden spoonists attempt to start this campaign in encouraging style, even if that comes in their performance rather than the result.
The hosts, with their superb captain Antoine Dupont back after his Olympic gold medal-winning sojourn in the Sevens game, are second favourites behind defending champions Ireland to win the championship and are unbeaten at home against Wales since 2019.
In all France have won 28 of their 49 home games against Wales but Gatland was at the helm when they pulled off famous victories in 2013, 2015 and 2019.
France head coach Fabien Galthie has been forced to defend the selections of Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jegou on the bench for Friday night's clash, with both having been arrested and subsequently charged with aggravated rape for an incident that occurred during France's summer tour or Argentina. Read more here.
France host Wales on Friday, Jan 31. The match is scheduled to kick off at 8.15pm (GMT).
It is the first game of the 2025 Six Nations tournament but, coincidentally and for fans of very wishful thinking, significantly, Wales' last victory in this fixture was also the first match of the competition, another Friday night cracker six years ago when Wales would also go in to win their 12th Grand Slam.
Scotland host Italy and Ireland welcome England on Saturday, Feb 1 to conclude the first round of matches.
France XV: T Ramos; T Attissogbe, P-L Barrassi, Y Moefana, L Bielle-Biarrey; R Ntamack, A Dupont (capt); J-B Gros, P Mauvaka, U Atonio, A Roumat, E Meafou, F Cros, P Boudehent, G Alldritt. Replacements: J Marchand, C Baille, G-H Colombe, H Auradou, M Guillard, O Jegou, N Le Garrec, E Gailleton.
Wales XV: L Williams; T Rogers, N Tompkins, O Watkin, J Adams; B Thomas, T Williams; G Thomas, E Lloyd, H Thomas, W Rowlands, D Jenkins, J Botham, J Morgan (capt), A Wainwright. Replacements: E Dee, N Smith, K Assiratti, F Thomas, T Reffell, R Williams, D Edwards, B Murray.
At Stade de France in Saint-Denis just north of Paris. France's national stadium has a capacity of 83,300 and hosted the athletics, football, rugby and closing ceremonies of the 2024 Olympic Games. Built for the 1998 Fifa World Cup, two Rugby World Cup finals – South Africa's 15-6 victory over England in 2007 and South Africa's 12-11 triumph over the All Blacks in 2023 have also been staged at the stadium.
It will be on ITV1 and the programme, presented by Mark Pougatch, will start at 7.30pm. The BBC and ITV once again share coverage of the Six Nations in the UK.
Referee: Paul Williams (NZ) Assistant referees: Andrea Piardi (Ita) & Jordan Way (Aus) TMO: Brett Cronan (Aus) FPRO: Damon Murphy (Aus)
Forwards: Keiron Assiratti, James Botham, Elliot Dee, Taulupe Faletau, Dafydd Jenkins, WillGriff John, Evan Lloyd, Kemsley Mathias, Jac Morgan, Sam Parry, Tommy Reffell, Will Rowlands, Nicky Smith, Gareth Thomas, Freddie Thomas, Henry Thomas, Christ Tshiunza, Aaron Wainwright, Teddy Williams.
Backs: Josh Adams, Ellis Bevan, Dan Edwards, Josh Hathaway, Eddie James, Ellis Mee, Blair Murray, Joe Roberts, Tom Rogers, Ben Thomas, Nick Tompkins, Owen Watkin, Liam Williams, Rhodri Williams, Tomos Williams.
Forwards: Esteban Abadie, Dorian Aldegheri, Grégory Alldritt, Uini Atonio, Hugo Auradou, Cyril Baille, Giorgi Beria, Paul Boudehent, Joshua Brennan, Georges-Henri Colombe, Francois Cros, Thibaud Flament, Marko Gazzotti, Jean-Baptiste Gros, Mickaël Guillard, Matthias Halagahu, Oscar Jégou, Maxime Lamothe, Julien Marchand, Peato Mauvaka, Emmanuel Meafou, Dany Priso, Rabah Slimani, Romain Taofifénua.
Backs: Theo Attissogbé, Pierre-Louis Barassi, Leo Barré, Nicolas Depoortère, Gaël Dréan, Antoine Dupont (c), Antoine Frisch, Emilien Gailleton, Matthieu Jalibert, Nolann Le Garrec, Maxime Lucu, Yoram Moefana, Noah Nene, Romain Ntamack, Damien Penaud, Thomas Ramos, Killian Tixeront, Gabin Villiere.
France were winners as recently as 2022 when they also won their 10th Grand Slam.Wales won the tournament and the Triple Crown in 2021 but their last Grand Slam was two years earlier, the last Six Nations campaign of Gatland's first stint in the job.
France battered Wales in the final 20 minutes of the match last year in Cardiff, winning 45-24, the highest points tally they had ever managed in Wales fuelled by Nolann Le Gaerrec's outstanding performance. The Racing 92 scrum-half scored the second of Les Bleus five tries but Wales scored three of their own and were 24-20 up with a quarter of the match to go when their inexperience, but not their courage, got the better of them.
France to win: 1/40
Wales to win: 25/1
Draw: 80/1
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