The Bleus center Gaël Fickou, who will start against New Zealand on Saturday at the Stade de France, is a player of “world-class”warned his All Blacks counterpart Anton Lienert-Brown on Thursday. “I think he’s a world-class center.”said Lienert-Brown (29, 82 caps) in an interview with AFP about Fickou, who was benched against Japan (52-12 win) but will return to the starting line-up to face the All Blacks.

“He’s a strong guy, solid in attack. I know he has a huge influence on their defensive system”.added Lienert-Brown of the Les Bleus center, the most experienced of the 23 French players lined up with 91 caps. “When you’re preparing to play a team, you look at a player like Antoine Dupont, and Gaël Fickou is another person you talk about.”said Lienert-Brown, who will take his place on the bench.

Antoine Dupont also praised

Les Bleus, who are coming off back-to-back wins over the Blacks at the 2023 and 2021 World Cups, will also be able to count on their captain Antoine Dupont, this summer’s Olympic sevens medallist.

“He’s one of the faces of world rugby, and someone who shines week after week.”said Lienert-Brown, for whom it’s necessary to “reduce his influence on the game to zero”. if you hope to win. “He’s an outsized player, but if we can dominate the impacts, then Antoine Dupont won’t have as much time with the ball.” he hopes.

After defeating England (24-22) and Ireland (23-13), the All Blacks travel to Italy for the final match of their autumn tour.