In July 2025, the France national rugby team toured New Zealand as part of the Summer International calendar. It was known as the 2025 Lipovitan-D July Series in New Zealand for sponsorship reasons, the three-test tour was publicly known as early as July 2024, with French media reporting that the French squad could possibly be without its key, top-performing players as the tour would also conflict with the current domestic competition in France. The domestic competition final took place just a week before the first tour match in Dunedin. It was also reported that the tour would allow for a new generation of French players to pick up more international caps and experience in preparation for the 2027 Rugby World Cup (RWC) in Australia.
Both national unions were in talks of moving one of the three test matches to be hosted in the United States, however the French Rugby Federation reportedly rejected the idea. It was France's eleventh tour of New Zealand and the eighteenth test-series between the two teams. It was Fabien Galthié's first tour of New Zealand as the head coach of France. The venue for the third test was held at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton on New Zealand's North Island. It was the first international test France has played at the venue.
Fixtures DateVenueHomeScoreAway21 June 2025Twickenham Stadium, London24–265 July 2025Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin31–2712 July 2025Sky Stadium, Wellington43–1719 July 2025Waikato Stadium, Hamilton29–19
Matches England XV vs France XV
FB 15Joe Carpenter RW 14Tom RoebuckOC 13Henry SladeIC 12Seb AtkinsonLW 11Immanuel Feyi-Waboso FH 10George Ford (cc)SH 9 Ben SpencerN8 8 Tom Willis OF 7 Guy Pepper BF 6 Ted HillRL 5 Nick Isiekwe LL 4 Alex ColesTP 3 Joe Heyes HK 2 Jamie George (cc) LP 1 Fin Baxter Substitutions:HK 16Theo Dan PR 17Bevan Rodd PR 18Trevor Davison LK 19Chandler Cunningham-South FL 20Jack Kenningham N8 21Alex Dombrandt SH 22Raffi Quirke CE 23Oscar Beard Coach: Steve Borthwick FB 15Théo Attissogbe RW 14Maël Moustin OC 13Émilien GailletonIC 12Gaël Fickou (c)LW 11Alivereti DuguivaluFH 10Antoine HastoySH 9 Nolann Le Garrec N8 8 Mickaël GuillardOF 7 Killian TixerontBF 6 Alexandre FischerRL 5 Tyler Duguid LL 4 Hugo Auradou TP 3 Rabah Slimani HK 2 Gaëtan Barlot LP 1 Baptiste Erdocio Substitutions:HK 16Guillaume Marchand PR 17Paul Mallez PR 18Demba Bamba LK 19Romain Taofifénua FL 20Cameron Woki FL 21Jacobus van Tonder SH 22Baptiste Jauneau FH 23Léo Berdeu Coach: Fabien Galthié Player of the Match: Nolann Le Garrec (France XV)
Assistant referees: Sam Grove-White (Scotland) Ben Breakspear (Wales) Television match official: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
New Zealand vs France (first test)
FB 15Will JordanRW 14Sevu Reece OC 13Billy Proctor IC 12Jordie BarrettLW 11Rieko IoaneFH 10Beauden BarrettSH 9 Cam Roigard N8 8 Christian Lio-Willie OF 7 Ardie SaveaBF 6 Tupou Vaa'iRL 5 Fabian HollandLL 4 Scott Barrett (c) TP 3 Fletcher Newell HK 2 Codie Taylor LP 1 Ethan de Groot Substitutions:HK 16Samisoni Taukei'aho PR 17Ollie Norris PR 18Pasilio Tosi FL 19Samipeni Finau FL 20Du'Plessis Kirifi SH 21Cortez Ratima CE 22Quinn Tupaea FH 23Damian McKenzie Coach: Scott Robertson FB 15Théo AttissogbéRW 14Tom Spring OC 13Émilien GailletonIC 12Gaël Fickou (c)LW 11Gabin Villière FH 10Joris Segonds SH 9 Nolann Le Garrec N8 8 Mickaël GuillardOF 7 Killian Tixeront BF 6 Alexandre FischerRL 5 Tyler Duguid LL 4 Hugo Auradou TP 3 Rabah Slimani HK 2 Gaëtan Barlot LP 1 Giorgi Beria Substitutions:HK 16Pierre Bourgarit PR 17Paul Mallez PR 18Régis Montagne LK 19Romain Taofifénua LK 20Cameron Woki FL 21Jacobus van Tonder SH 22Baptiste Jauneau FH 23Antoine Hastoy Coach: Fabien Galthié Player of the Match: Will Jordan (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Christophe Ridley (England) Takehito Namekawa (Japan) Television match official: Damon Murphy (Australia) Foul play review officer: Brett Cronan (Australia) Notes: Fabian Holland, Du'Plessis Kirifi, Christian Lio-Willie, Ollie Norris (all New Zealand), Giorgi Beria, Tyler Duguid, Paul Mallez, Régis Montagne, Joris Segonds, Tom Spring and Jacobus van Tonder (all France) made their international debuts.
New Zealand vs France (second test)
FB 15Will JordanRW 14Emoni NarawaOC 13Billy ProctorIC 12Jordie Barrett LW 11Rieko IoaneFH 10Beauden Barrett SH 9 Cam Roigard N8 8 Christian Lio-Willie OF 7 Ardie Savea (c)BF 6 Tupou Vaa'iRL 5 Fabian HollandLL 4 Patrick Tuipulotu TP 3 Fletcher Newell HK 2 Codie Taylor LP 1 Ethan de Groot Substitutions:HK 16Samisoni Taukei'aho PR 17Ollie Norris PR 18Pasilio Tosi FL 19Samipeni Finau FL 20Du'Plessis Kirifi SH 21Cortez Ratima CE 22Timoci Tavatavanawai FH 23Damian McKenzie Coach: Scott Robertson FB 15Léo BarréRW 14Théo AttissogbéOC 13Nicolas DepoortèreIC 12Pierre-Louis BarassiLW 11Émilien GailletonFH 10Joris Segonds SH 9 Nolann Le Garrec N8 8 Esteban Abadie OF 7 Jacobus van Tonder BF 6 Pierre BochatonRL 5 Matthias Halagahu LL 4 Joshua Brennan TP 3 Georges-Henri Colombe HK 2 Gaëtan Barlot (c) LP 1 Baptiste Erdocio Substitutions:HK 16Pierre Bourgarit PR 17Paul Mallez PR 18Régis Montagne LK 19Romain Taofifénua LK 20Cameron Woki FL 21Bastien Vergnes-Taillefer SH 22Thibault Daubagna FH 23Antoine Hastoy Coach: Fabien Galthié Player of the Match: Ardie Savea (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Nic Berry (Australia) Takehito Namekawa (Japan) Television match official: Brett Cronan (Australia) Foul play review officer: Damon Murphy (Australia) Notes: Timoci Tavatavanawai (New Zealand), Pierre Bochaton, Joshua Brennan, Thibault Daubagna, Baptiste Erdocio, Matthias Halagahu and Bastien Vergnes-Taillefer (all France) made their international debuts. New Zealand reclaimed the Dave Gallaher Trophy.
New Zealand vs France (third test)
FB 15Ruben LoveRW 14Will JordanOC 13Anton Lienert-Brown IC 12Quinn Tupaea LW 11Sevu ReeceFH 10Damian McKenzieSH 9 Cortez Ratima N8 8 Ardie Savea (c)OF 7 Du'Plessis KirifiBF 6 Samipeni Finau RL 5 Fabian HollandLL 4 Patrick TuipulotuTP 3 Tyrel Lomax HK 2 Samisoni Taukei'aho LP 1 Ethan de Groot Substitutions:HK 16Brodie McAlister PR 17George Bower PR 18Fletcher Newell FL 19Dalton Papali'i N8 20Christian Lio-WillieSH 21Noah Hotham CE 22Timoci Tavatavanawai CE 23Jordie Barrett Coach: Scott Robertson FB 15Léo Barré RW 14Théo AttissogbéOC 13Nicolas DepoortèreIC 12Gaël Fickou (c)LW 11Gabin VillièreFH 10Antoine HastoySH 9 Nolann Le Garrec N8 8 Mickaël GuillardOF 7 Joshua BrennanBF 6 Alexandre Fischer RL 5 Matthias Halagahu LL 4 Hugo Auradou TP 3 Rabah Slimani HK 2 Pierre Bourgarit LP 1 Baptiste Erdocio Substitutions:HK 16Gaëtan Barlot PR 17Paul Mallez PR 18Demba Bamba LK 19Romain Taofifénua FL 20Killian Tixeront FL 21Pierre Bochaton SH 22Thibault Daubagna CE 23Émilien Gailleton Coach: Fabien Galthié Assistant referees: Damian Schneider (Argentina) Takehito Namekawa (Japan) Television match official: Brett Cronan (Australia) Foul play review officer: Damon Murphy (Australia) Notes: Brodie McAlister (New Zealand) made his international debut.
Squads Note: Ages, caps and clubs are as per 5 July, the first test match of the tour.
France On 24 June 2025, Fabien Galthié named France's 37-man squad for the 2025 France rugby union tour of New Zealand.
On 30 June 2025, Galthié added five Top 14 finalists who joined the France group for the New Zealand tour.
Coaching team: Head coach: Fabien Galthié Backs coach: Patrick Arlettaz Forwards coach: William Servat Defence coach: Shaun Edwards
New Zealand On 23 June 2025, New Zealand named a 33-player squad for the series against France.
Christian Lio Willie and Emoni Narawa were added to the squad as injury cover for Luke Jacobson and Anton Lienert-Brown, respectively.
On 8 July, it was confirmed Scott Barrett had been ruled out with a calf tear injury sustained during the first Test in Dunedin. Ardie Savea took over the captaincy ahead of the second Test.
All squad members play rugby in New Zealand.
Coaching team: Head coach: Scott Robertson Attack coach: Jason Holland Forwards coach: Jason Ryan Defence coach: Scott Hansen
Criticism French squad availability In June 2024, with news of France's next tour being publicly known, French coach Fabien Galthié told L'Équipe that he had identified a group of 20 "premium" players that he wished to rest for their tour of New Zealand. In October 2024, the French Rugby Federation (Fédération Française de Rugby; FFR), the governing body of rugby union in France, and the National Rugby League (Ligue nationale de rugby; LNR), the organisation that manages the Top 14, announced the signing of an agreement on the release of French Top 14 players for international duty from 2025 until mid-2026. In the agreement the provisions outlined stated that a foundational group of 42 players will be assembled in two phases for France's 2025 tour. Initially, 28 eligible players will be selected following the 2024–25 Top 14 play-off qualifiers (mid-June) to begin preparations for a France Development match, which will take place over the weekend of the 2024–25 Top 14 semi-finals. This cohort will subsequently be augmented by players from the clubs eliminated in the semi-finals, bringing the total to 42. Players from the 2024–25 Top 14 finalists, however, will be excluded from selection for these international periods. Thus, the top-performing French players would not be available for the French team touring New Zealand.
The announcement of the agreement and the subsequent affect it would have on the tour received a lot of attention and criticism in New Zealand and on social media. The Times journalist Will Kelleher wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter): "Interesting this, that France are taking a second team to NZ. New Zealand Rugby (NZR) officials are livid about it, as it devalues a mega series, and their ability to market it..." That same week New Zealand Rugby (NZR) announced they were surprised by the decision and asked the governing body of rugby union internationally, World Rugby, to clarify the French availability policy, citing World Rugby regulations. Former New Zealand international and Sky Sport pundit, Justin Marshall, stated: "We don't send our B team to play you at the end of the year because our players are tired. We send over our team to knock you over in your own backyard. Now, try and actually see it from our perspective that we want to have that environment." He added: "We want to have that feeling for our fans, for our people to see France with their number one team coming over here and taking us on... We treat you with respect. And I feel that if the French were to use the excuse of a long season and their players are tired, well, you know, that's just piss poor because we're exactly the same when we have to go in November, but we front."
In March 2025, French players Grégory Alldritt and Romain Ntamack expressed their desire to play for France on the tour despite the restrictive selection policy. Ntamack stated: "I don't really know yet what can be done or not, whether the finalists will be allowed to go to New Zealand. Maybe an exception will be made depending on the tour, because it's a pretty exceptional tour to go and play in New Zealand... Final or not, if we have to go, it will be with pleasure."
In June 2025, Jean-Marc Lhermet, Vice-President of the French Rugby Federation announced a new agreement that was made with the National Rugby League that relaxed some of the previous restrictions that were put on French players within the Top 14. In the new outlined conditions, French-eligible players that play for a Top 14 finalist team during the 2024–25 season would now be available for selection. However, only players that had played less than 2,000 minutes of match-time (citing World Rugby player safety guidelines) would be eligible for selection, with a maximum selection cap of five players.