IF France get beyond Scotland at BT Murrayfield this afternoon and go on to clinch their first Six Nations championship for 12 years, then they will owe a debt of thanks to JIFF.

Most sporting governing bodies tend to take drastic action following an unforeseen catastrophe but not so the Ligue Nationale de Rugby who chose 2009 – the year before that last grand slam triumph – to introduce Joueurs Issus des Filières de Formation (JIFF, loosely translated as academy-trained players) regulations that came into play the following year.

To try to stem the number of overseas players appearing in the Top 14 championship, JIFF instead looked to promote local French talent by stipulating that a certain percentage (starting at 40% but rising over the years) must have been in the FFR (French Rugby Federation) system for at least five years before turning 23 or have spent three years in an approved set-up before turning 21.

The regulations did not insist those selected would need to be French but the purpose was clear: to create a pathway for young, local talent to get regular exposure at the top end of club rugby thus deepening the selection options for the national team.

It has taken a while to come to fruition but the feeling now in France is that JIFF, combined with the appointment of Fabien Galthié as head coach after the 2019 World Cup, has helped to create a golden generation of talent who stand on the cusp of greatness.

Only four of their Six Nations squad were not born in France – the only Six Nations competitor to insist that players hold their domestic passport – while of Galthié’s original 42-man squad for this year’s tournament, only four are the wrong side of 30 years old.  

It hardly seems conceivable that a country of France’s rich rugby heritage has gone so long without tangible success but, with their hosting of the next World Cup now only 18 months away, confidence is spiralling that things may be finally coming together just at the right time.

“Optimism is very high in France just now because we believe that this generation is very gifted,” explains Jérôme Prevot, rugby writer with the respected Midi Olympique newspaper.

“We feel that we now have a lot of good players who are working well as a team and strong in every area of the field. They are now in a position to challenge again for championships but it has been a long wait.

“There have been many frustrating times since 2010 when France last won the Six Nations. Under the three previous coaches, Phillipe Saint-Andre, Guy Noves and then Jacques Brunel, it was very disappointing for many years and the feeling was France did not have very many top-class players at that time.

“Then in 2010 they introduced a special policy, JIFF, that made sure that a certain percentage of French players would always play for the clubs. And so more young French players got an opportunity to demonstrate what they could do.

“And now we feel that, a decade later, we are seeing the fruits of this policy. The reward is this strong French side that we have today.

“Plus there is the Galthié factor. You are not forced to like him but it is hard to argue that he’s not an excellent tactician and a good coach. He has a lot of good ideas and likes to attack in waves. He is a coach with a strong imagination.”

Galthié has the good fortune to be able to call upon Antoine Dupont, the scrum-half considered to be the best player in the world right now, who will again be partnered at fly-half this afternoon by Romain Ntamack.

“Dupont is a player you witness only once in a generation,” added Prevot. “He’s able to make you win even if you are not playing a good game.

“Ntamack is at fly-half just now because Matthieu Jalibert is injured. There is a debate over who is better. And there are other options, too, like Antoine Hastoy.”

Galthié has yet to solve the Scottish conundrum in the Six Nations, however. He brought his team to Edinburgh two years ago in one of the final matches played before lockdown only to see their grand slam dreams shattered on the back of an ill-disciplined performance.

Last year it was Scotland’s turn to spoil the party again, their last-gasp victory behind closed doors in Paris serving to rip the championship from France’s grasp and delivering it instead to Wales.

The French did win at Murrayfield in an Autumn Nations Cup game in November 2020. That was their first win on Scottish soil since 2014 and now they need to do it again when it counts.

Confidence is high after opening the tournament with home wins over Italy and Ireland but Prevot expects this will be France’s toughest challenge so far.

“It is difficult to analyse the victory over Italy too much as they are very weak. But against Ireland people were more impressed with that performance.

“There is optimism, then, ahead of this weekend’s match but there is also a recognition in France that Scotland has improved a lot in the last few years.

“The backs are considered very dangerous, especially Duhan van der Merwe, Darcy Graham and Stuart Hogg. So France will play with confidence but they know it will be another very difficult game in Edinburgh.”