French coach Philippe Saint Andre has named a 36-man training squad for the 2015 Rugby World Cup, choosing just seven players from the team that fell short in the 2011 World Cup final against New Zealand
It’s not so much who Saint Andre has left out but who he has included in the squad with mercurial out-half Freddie Michalak picked despite not having played for France since last June in that diabolical test series against the Wallabies. He will also miss the end of the Top 14 season after breaking his hand making his selection even more of a surprise.
Interestingly, Francois Trinh Duc is picked in the place of Camille Lopez who lined up as first-five-eighth for France throughout the whole of the 2015 6 Nations tournament. Trinh Duc and Morgan Parra are the only backs from the 2011 RWC campaign returning to the squad
Thierry Dusautoir returns to the squad and will presumably return as captain to lead Les Bleus’ campaign one step further than they achieved in 2011. Front row veterans Nicolas Mas and Dimitri Szarzewski are also included with all three forwards including Dusautoir vying for a spot to play in their third world cup campaign.
Forwards: Uini Atonio (La Rochelle), Eddy Ben Arous (Racing-Métro), Xavier Chiocci (Toulon), Vincent Debaty (Clermont), Nicolas Mas (Montpellier), Rabah Slimani (Stade Français); Guilhem Guirado (Toulon), Benjamin Kayser (Clermont), Dimitri Szarzewski (Racing-Métro); Alexandre Flanquart (Stade Français), Yoann Maestri (Toulouse), Pascal Papé (Stade Français), Sébastien Vahaamahina (Clermont); Thierry Dusautoir (Toulouse), Bernard Le Roux (Racing-Métro), Yannick Nyanga (Toulouse), Fulgence Ouedraogo (Montpellier); Damien Chouly (Clermont), Loann Goujon (La Rochelle), Louis Picamoles (Toulouse).
Backs: Rory Kockott (Castres), Morgan Parra (Clermont), Sébastien Tillous-Borde (Toulon); Frédéric Michalak (Toulon), Rémi Tales (Castres), François Trinh-Duc (Montpellier); Mathieu Bastareaud (Toulon), Alexandre Dumoulin (Racing-Métro), Gaël Fickou (Toulouse), Wesley Fofana (Clermont), Rémi Lamerat (Castres); Brice Dulin (Racing-Métro), Sofiane Guitoune (Bordeaux-Bègles), Yoann Huget (Toulouse), Noa Nakaitaci (Clermont), Scott Spedding (Bayonne)