"The All Bleus" - Picking a Combined France and New Zealand XV Ahead of Rugby World Cup Opener

Both sides are star-studded with some of the word's best players, as the likes of Antoine Dupont and Beauden Barrett are set to light-up the Stade de France on Friday September 8th. Along with the Springboks and Ireland, these two sides make up half out of the front-running quartet, that are tipped to win the Web Ellis Trophy on Saturday, October 28th.

Due to the draw for the 2023 Rugby World Cup taking place in December 2020, today's top five ranked rugby nations (along with Scotland in fifth), all find themselves pilled together in either Pool A or Pool B. This got us thinking as to how dominant an 'All Bleus' team would be, if New Zealand and France combined their efforts to go after the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

We are considering the current form of the players for this combined squad, which means that any recent injuries will write players out of competing for the 'All Bleus'. So unfortunately, despite being one of the finest fly halves in the world, France's Romain Ntamack misses out on this squad following his ACL injury, that has ended his hopes to bring Les Bleus their first ever Web Ellis Trophy.

Here our are picks for a combined France and New Zealand 'All Bleus' squad, for the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

We start off the squad with two-time World Rugby Player of the Year Beauden Barrett in at fullback. Granted, the Auckland Blues man is more than capable of running the show from fly half, yet All Blacks Head Coach Ian Foster has preferred to utilise Barrett in the 15 jersey as of late. Barrett's joined by the frightening wing partnership of France's Damien Penaud and Ethan Dumortier.

Penaud is hot on the heels of South Africa's Cheslin Kolbe, for the accolade of being the best right winger in the world. 22-year-old Dumortier had his international break-out in the 2023 Six Nations, with a try on his debut against Scotland. The flying Frenchman followed this up with a try against England, as Fabien Galthie's men handed England their heaviest ever defeat at Twickenham (10-53).

13. Gael Fickou (France and Racing 92)

12. Jordie Barrett (New Zealand and Hurricanes)

This could well have been an all-French midfield, if it was not for the unfortunate injury to Jonathan Danty. Arguably the best inside centre in the world, Danty suffered a reported 'slight' hamstring injury in France's recent Summer Nations Series win over Australia, and is a doubt for the Rugby World Cup opener. New Zealand's Jordie Barrett comes in for him, for a more than capable replacement.

The Hurricanes star is as versatile as they come, with proven sound performances across the centres, fullback, both wings and even at fly half. The ability to cover multiple positions comes naturally to the Barrett backs, with Jordie joining big brother Beauden in our 'All Bleus' squad. France playmaker Gael Fickou partners up alongside him, after a starring role in France's 'grand slamming' 2022 Six Nations, as well as a 'team of the tournament' performance in the latest Six Nations championship.

10. Richie Mo'unga (New Zealand and Crusaders/Toshiba Brave Lupus)

9. Antoine Dupont (France and Toulouse)

The aforementioned injury to France fly half Romain Ntamack, again opens up what would likely have been an all-French halfback partnership. The Toulousain duo of Ntamack and Antoine Dupont seem to communicate telepathically for club and country, with Ntamack's recent injury being a hammer blow for Galthie's side. Ntamack's understudy is Bordeaux-Begles' Matthieu Jalibert, yet we prefer the New Zealand option with Richie Mo'unga, for our 'All Bleus' number 10.

Soon to be heading off to Japan, Mo'unga has done it all with the Crusaders. A seven-time winner of Super Rugby across multiple competition variations, Mo'unga is a proven winner that can spur success into this side. Dupont slots him alongside him, having taken the torch from Aaron Smith as the greatest scrum half in rugby today. Dupont is still amongst the conversation for the out-and-out best player in the world, after taking home the accolade in 2021.

1. Ethan de Groot (New Zealand and Highlanders)

2. Dane Coles (New Zealand and Hurricanes)

3. Uini Antonio (France and La Rochelle)

Two additional recent injuries made the 'All Bleus' front row all to play for, starting with the recent calf injury to France's Cyril Baille. The loosehead prop was a shoe-in for the number one jersey, yet the curse of the Rugby World Cup warm-ups has had a proven impact on Baille's hopes for the All Blacks opener. New Zealand's Ethan de Groot comes in to start in at loosehead for our combined XV, with All Blacks stalwart Dane Coles presenting the best option viable at hooker.

The second injury sees All Blacks tighthead Tyrel Lomax side-lined with a nasty gash on his leg, after picking up the cut in New Zealand's record defeat against the Springboks at Twickenham. Lomax is replaced by back-to-back Heineken Champions Cup winner Uini Antonio, who would also qualify for the All Blacks, as he was in fact born in Timuru, in the Canterbury region of New Zealand's South Island.

4. Thibaud Flament (France and Toulouse)

5. Sam Whitelock (New Zealand and Crusaders/Pau)

There were plenty of contenders with Paul Willemse's recent injury, with Toulouse's Thibaud Flament being our pick to pack dowm the scrum in the number four jersey. All Blacks mainstay Brodie Retallick just misses out on the squad, as we have opted for Flament from France, and Sam Whitelock of the All Blacks to partner-up in our second row.

South African-born Willemse is amongst the hardest hitters in international rugby, and will be missed by Les Bleus come the home soil competition, with Flament an appropriate replacement. Sam Whitelock is a proven winner, and can bring the invaluable experience of two Rugby World Cup titles to our 'All Bleus' squad, for the 2023 campaign. Back to reality, and Whitelock is on the cusp of immortality. The most capped All Black is eyeing up his third Rugby World Cup triumph (after 2011 and 2015), to become the only player in history to win a hat-trick of Web Ellis trophies.

6. Charles Ollivon - (France and Toulon)

7. Sam Cane (New Zealand and Chiefs)

8. Gregory Alldritt (France and La Rochelle)

A slight switch up to the norm for our blindside flanker, as France's Charles Ollivon is simply too good to leave out of the starting XV. Normally an openside flanker for Galthie's side, the Toulon man has in fact made 20 combined appearances for club and country in the six jersey. All Blacks captain Sam Cane gets preferential treatment for the openside spot, in what makes up a formidable flanking partnership.

It might as well have come down to a coin-toss for the number eight jersey, that's how close it was between La Rochelle's Gregory Alldritt, and Hurricanes back-row Ardie Savea. However, following the All Blacks' recent record loss against South Africa, and France going from strength to strength with World Cup warm-up wins over Scotland and Australia, Alldritt gets the nod for the starting spot.

We have opted for a traditional five-three split between forwards and backs, so don't expect to see a forward's heavy bench like the Springboks have recently favoured. The replacements can be further divided into a second five-three split, between All Blacks and France players, with Ian Foster's men taking a larger share of the seats on the bench.

Due to the unbelievable calibre of combined talent in the starting XV, some regular starters are in for a rare taste of the substitutes bench for our 'All Bleus' squad. Aaron Smith drops down with Antoine Dupont opted as our first choice scrum half, with Ardie Savea similarly relegated, with Alldritt preferred at the back of the scrum.

16. Julien Marchand (France and Toulouse)

17. Jean Baptiste-Gros (France and Toulon)

18. Ofa Tu'ungafasi (New Zealand and Blues)

19. Scott Barrett (New Zealand and Crusaders)

20. Ardie Savea (New Zealand and Hurricanes)

21. Aaron Smith (New Zealand and Highlanders/Toyota Verblitz)

22. Matthieu Jalibert (France and Bordeaux-Begles)

23. Damien McKenzie (New Zealand and Chiefs)