Saint-Andre keeps WC squad intact
New France coach Philippe Saint-André has kept faith with 22 members of the squad that reached the World Cup Final in naming a 30-strong squad to prepare for the Six Nations tournament.
It was the former international wing’s first selection since taking over from Marc Lievremont, who endured as torrid time in New Zealand before taking France to the World Cup Final, where they lost 7-8 to the All Blacks.
Among those brought back into the squad were Toulouse backs Clement Poitrenaud and Lionel Beauxis, both of whom missed out on the trip to New Zealand, while two uncapped players – Toulouse lock Yoann Maestri and Clermont centre Wesley Fofana – received first call-ups.
There was no place, however, for controversial Toulon centre Mathieu Bastareaud or Stade Français scrumhalf Julien Dupuy.
Toulouse back row player Thierry Dusautoir, who was outstanding in the final against the All Blacks and was named IRB Player of the Year, retains the captaincy.
Saint-André, who previously coached Toulon, Sale and Gloucester, said that France were looking no further forward than the Six Nations opener against Italy at Stade de France on February 4.
“Let’s just beat Italy and then we can think about Ireland,” he replied when asked what his overall hopes were for this year’s tournament.
“On top of everything, the Italians have a new coach [Jacques Brunel], who we know and we can expect to see some new things from them.”
Saint-André said that the eight-strong selection committee had been in near unanimity on the choice of players for his first squad after lively debate especially regarding the front row and midfield choices.
“We chose the two centres we had in the World Cup Final, Maxime Mermoz and Aurelien Rougerie and added two young centres with huge potential, Yann David and Wesley Fofana, who we really wanted to see in action,” he said.
“It’s for the two centre slots where the competition is the stiffest, with Damien Traille, Florian Fritz and Mathieu Bastareaud also in the picture.”
Saint-André insisted that no-one was being ruled out for the rest of the tournament and that some of the older brigade like lock Lionel Nallet could be called back in if there were injuries.
France open their Six Nations campaign against Italy at Stade de France on February 4.
French squad:
Forwards: Fabien Barcella (Biarritz), Vincent Debaty (Clermont), Luc Ducalcon (Castres), Nicolas Mas (Perpignan), Jean-Baptiste Poux (Toulouse), William Servat (Toulouse), Dimitri Szarzewski (Stade Français), Yoann Maestri (Toulouse), Romain Millo-Chluski (Toulouse), Pascal Pape (Stade Français), Julien Pierre (Clermont), Imanol Harinordoquy (Biarritz), Thierry Dusautoir (Toulouse, captain), Fulgence Ouedraogo (Montpellier), Yannick Nyanga (Toulouse), Louis Picamoles (Toulouse), Julien Bonnaire (Clermont).
Backs: Morgan Parra (Clermont), Dimitri Yachvili (Biarritz), Lionel Beauxis (Toulouse), Francois Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), Yann David (Toulouse), Wesley Fofana (Clermont), Maxime Mermoz (Perpignan), Aurelien Rougerie (Clermont), Vincent Clerc (Toulouse), Julien Malzieu (Clermont), Alexis Palisson (Toulon), Maxime Medard (Toulouse), Clement Poitrenaud (Toulouse).
AFP
