FRANCE HEAD coach Fabien Galthie has named 22 uncapped players in his final squad for next month’s three-game tour of South America, the French Rugby Federation (FFR) announced on Sunday.
The new faces included Munster centre Antoine Frisch who spent last week at Les Bleus pre-tour training camp after choosing to represent France over Ireland.
Three props in Grenoble’s Regis Montagne as well as Bayonne pair Mathis Perchaud are Tevita Tatafu are the only players not to make it from the camp to the final squad.
Galthie has picked 11 individuals from Stade Francais and La Rochelle, the two sides who tasted defeat during this weekend’s French Top 14 semi-finals.
Players from Toulouse and Bordeaux-Begles, who will meet in next Friday’s final, are unavailable for the tour, which includes two Test against Argentina on 6 and 13 July, either side of a non-capped match against Uruguay on 10 July.
In-form 21-year-old La Rochelle flanker Oscar Jegou is included for the first time having been banned for a month earlier in the season for cocaine use.
Stade Francais flanker Romain Briatte, 31, also gets his maiden call-up after their defeat to Bordeaux-Begles on Saturday.
Toulon scrum-half Baptiste Serin is the most experienced member of the squad with 44 caps, having made his Test debut against the Pumas in 2016.
Props Sebastien Taofifenua and Georges-Henri Colombe as well as full-back Leo Barre are the only survivors from France’s last game, the 33-31 Six Nations victory over England in March.
French rugby’s poster boy Antoine Dupont is absent with Toulouse after which he will join up with France’s sevens team, eyeing a place in their squad for this summer’s Paris Olympic Games.
Squad
Forwards: Gaetan Barlot, Teddy Baubigny, Jannick Tarit; Demba Bamba, Giorgi Beria, Georges-Henri Colombe, Jean-Baptiste Gros, Thomas Laclayat, Sebastien Taofifenua; Hugo Auradou, Pierre-Henri Azagoh, Baptiste Pesenti, Posolo Tuilagi, Florent Vanverberghe; Romain Briatte, Judicael Cancoriet, Ibrahim Diallo, Mickael Guillard, Oscar Jegou, Jordan Joseph, Lenni Nouchi, Yann Peysson, Killian Tixeront
Backs: Baptiste Couilloud, Baptiste Jauneau, Baptiste Serin, Leo Berdeu, Louis Carbonel, Antoine Hastoy, Leon Darricarrere, Simeli Daunivucu, Jules Favre, Antoine Frisch, Emilien Gailleton, Arthur Vincent; Theo Attissogbe, Leo Barre, Lucas Dubois, Lester Etien, Nathanael Hulleu, Joris Jurand
