Fabien Galthié (; born 20 March 1969) is a French

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

coach and former player, currently the head coach of the France national team. His usual position was at scrum-half. He played much of his club rugby for Colomiers, and later on in his career,

Stade Français Stade Français Paris (known commonly as Stade Français, ) is a French professional rugby union club based in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The club plays in the Top 14 domestic league in France and is one of the most successful French ...

. Galthié won 64 caps for France, including playing in four

Rugby World Cup The Men's Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognised as the World championship, world champions of the sport. The tournament is administer ...

s, as well as captaining the side at the 2003 World Cup. Former France national coach Bernard Laporte has described him as the greatest scrum-half in French history. He was the

IRB International Player of the Year The World Rugby Men's 15s Player of the Year is an award presented annually by World Rugby at the World Rugby Awards. It is given to honour "the achievements of those involved at the highest level of the world game on the field". First presente ...

in 2002. Since retiring as a player, Galthié has coached

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

and

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

in the French

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the National Rugby League (France), France National Rugby League, also ...

competition. In 2019 he became an assistant coach of the France national team, and became head coach in 2020. In 2022, he led France to a Six Nations Grand Slam. In 2025, he led France to a Six Nations Championship.

Playing career

Born in

Cahors Cahors (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the western part of Southern France. It is the smallest prefecture among the 13 departments that constitute the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Region. The capital and main city of t ...

, Galthié began his career at a club in

Tournefeuille Tournefeuille (; Languedocien: ''Tornafuèlha'') is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France. It is the second-largest suburb of the city of Toulouse, and is adjacent to it on the west side. It is a member of the Toul ...

, before joining Colomiers. He made his international debut for France against

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

in June 1991. He was called into France's

1991 Rugby World Cup The 1991 Rugby World Cup () was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup, and was jointly hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France: at the time, the five European countries who participated in the Six Nations Championship, Five Na ...

squad, replacing the injured Pierre Berbizier. At the

1995 Rugby World Cup The 1995 Rugby World Cup (), was the third Rugby World Cup. It was hosted and won by South Africa, and was the first Rugby World Cup in which every match was held in one country. The World Cup was the first major sporting event to take place in ...

he played in the semifinal defeat to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. Galthié was a crucial member of the French team that upset

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in the semifinal of the

1999 Rugby World Cup The 1999 Rugby World Cup () was the fourth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial international rugby union championship. It was the first Rugby World Cup to be held in the sport's History of rugby union#The professional era, professional era. Four a ...

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

. In 2000, Colomiers reached the French championship final, but Galthié had to watch from the stands due to a knee injury. The club lost 28–23 to Stade Français, whom he joined the following season. In 2001 Galthié was appointed captain of France. A successful year in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, including a Six Nations Grand Slam, saw France dominate the 2002 IRB Awards, with Galthié named Player of the Year, as well as French coach Bernard Laporte being named Coach of the Year. Galthié captained France at the

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England national rugby union team, England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispu ...

in Australia, and secured France's bonus point against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

in their third game, scoring the fourth try in the game. He did not play in France's final pool game against the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Galthié returned for the next game, the quarterfinal against Ireland which they won convincingly, but in the semi-final they lost to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

24–7. Following their semi-final defeat, France contested the third place play-off with

. Afterwards Galthié announced his retirement from international rugby. Galthié won his only club trophy on his last competitive match, the French championship final with Stade Français against

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

on 7 June 2003 at

Stade de France Stade de France (, ) is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the List of football stadiums in France, largest stadium i ...

(32–18).

Coaching career

Galthié became the coach of Stade Français in 2004 after head coach

Nick Mallet Nicholas Vivian Haward Mallett (born 30 October 1956) is a former South African rugby union player who played for the Springboks, South Africa's national rugby union team, in 1984. He also coached the Springboks between 1997 and 2000 and was th ...

departed the Paris club. Galthié was contacted by Max Guazzini to take up the coaching job. In the first season, Stade Français made it to the final of both the

and

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Investec Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

finals, but were beaten by

Biarritz Olympique Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque (; ), usually known simply as Biarritz, is a French professional rugby union team based in the Iparralde, Basque city of Biarritz in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Pyrénées-Atlantiques department of Nouvelle-Aquitaine ...

and

respectively. The following season Stade Français were beaten by Toulouse in the Top 14 semi-final, and they were knocked out of the Heineken Cup by

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

. He eventually won the Top 14 by beating Clermont 23–18 in 2007. He left Stade Français in 2008. He became a TV pundit with the French public national channel

France 2 France 2 () is a French free-to-air public television channel. The flagship channel of France Télévisions, it broadcasts generalist programming including news, entertainment (such as dramas, films, and game shows), factual programmes, and sp ...

and private radio

Europe 1 Europe 1, (''Europe un'') formerly known as Europe nº 1, is a privately owned radio station created in 1955. It was owned and operated by Lagardère News, a subsidiary of the Lagardère Group, it was one of the leading radio broadcasting s ...

. He joined the

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

coaching staff during their end-of-the-year tour of Europe in November and December 2008. Galthié signed a three-year coaching contract with

in 2010. Galthié led Montpellier to a Top 14 final in his first year. His stint as coach came to an abrupt end at the end of 2014 due to poor relations with the President of Montpellier Rugby Club. In 2017–2018 he coached

France

In 2019 Galthié was appointed as vice-head coach of the French national team, having been scheduled to succeed Jacques Brunel as head coach in 2020.

Statistics

Honours

As Player *France **

***Runner-up: 1999 ***Third: 1995 ***Fourth: 2003 ** Six Nations Grand Slam ***Winner: 1997, 1998, 2002 **

Six Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Six Nations, branded as Guinness M6N) is an annual international rugby union competition by the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. It is the oldest sports tournament conte ...

***Winner: 1997, 1998, 2002 *Colomiers Rugby ** European Challenge Cup ***Winner: 1998 *Stade Français **

***Winner: 2003 *Individual **

World Rugby Men's 15s Player of the Year The World Rugby Men's 15s Player of the Year is an award presented annually by World Rugby at the World Rugby Awards. It is given to honour "the achievements of those involved at the highest level of the world game on the field". First presente ...

***Winner: 2002 As Coach *Stade Français **

***Winner: 2007 *Montpellier Hérault rugby **

***Runner-up: 2011 *France ** Six Nations Grand Slam ***Winner: 2022 **

***Winner: 2022, 2025 ***Runner-up: 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024 **

Autumn Nations Cup The Autumn Nations Cup was a rugby union competition held in November and December 2020 in place of the usual Autumn rugby union internationals, Autumn internationals series typically held in the same period each year, as many teams were avoidin ...

***Runner-up: 2020 ** Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy ***Winner: 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025 **

Dave Gallaher Trophy The Dave Gallaher Trophy is a rugby union perpetual trophy contested between and . It is named after Dave Gallaher, the 1905–06 All Black captain who was killed in Belgium during World War I. History When it comes to rugby, France and New ...

***Winner: 2021, 2024 ** Auld Alliance Trophy ***Winner: 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 ** Trophée des Bicentenaires ***Winner: 2022, 2023

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Galthie, Fabien 1969 births Living people Sportspeople from Cahors French rugby union coaches French rugby union players 20th-century French sportsmen World Rugby Players of the Year Rugby union scrum-halves Western Province (rugby union) players Colomiers Rugby players Stade Français Paris players Stade Français Paris coaches RC Toulon coaches France international rugby union players France national rugby union team coaches Montpellier Hérault Rugby Rugby union players from Occitania (administrative region) Expatriate rugby union players in South Africa French expatriate rugby union players French expatriate sportspeople in South Africa Knights of the Legion of Honour 1991 Rugby World Cup players 1995 Rugby World Cup players 1999 Rugby World Cup players 2003 Rugby World Cup players Occitan sportspeople