Five new caps called into France Six Nations squad

Newly appointed France coach Guy Noves has called up five new uncapped players in his 30-strong squad that will begin preparing for the Six Nations.

The five new faces are Toulouse scrum-half Sebastien Bezy and flanker Yacouba Camara, Stade Francais centre Jonathan Danty, Clermont lock Paul Jedrasiak and Bordeaux-Begles prop Jefferson Poirot.

The squad also featured half-back pairing Francois Trinh-Duc and Maxime Machenaud.

Montpellier’s Trinh-Duc and Stade Francais fly-half Jules Plisson, along with Racing 92’s Machenaud, were all named in the squad which will meet up with the new coaching team on January 4 despite not featuring in the World Cup.

Other players who did not feature in the tournament under Noves’ predecessor Philippe Saint-Andre are Clermont lock Sebastien Vahaamahina, Bordeaux-Begles flanker Loann Goujon and Castres centre Remi Lamerat, who like Trinh-Duc had all just missed the cut.

Full-back/wingers Hugo Bonneval (Stade Francais), Benjamin Fall (Montpellier) and Maxime Medard (Toulouse), and Racing flanker Wenceslas Lauret all make their return to international duty.

Noves, however, has discarded several players who featured for France in their disastrous World Cup campaign, which ended with a 62-13 quarter-final thrashing by eventual champions New Zealand.

Among the backs, centre Mathieu Bastareaud, full-back Brice Dulin, fly-half Remi Tales, scrum-halves Rory Kockott and Sebastien Tillous-Borde, and wingers Sofiane Guitoune and Noa Nakaitaci all failed to make the cut.

Up front, flankers Yannick Nyanga and Fulgence Ouedraogo are joined on the sidelines by prop Vincent Debaty.

After their introductory day at the French federation’s headquarters in Marcoussis, south of Paris, a second day is organised for January 11, the squad list for which will be announced five days previously.

The squad for the first game of the Six Nations, against Italy on February 6, will be unveiled on January 19.

France squad

Forwards (16): Uini Atonio, Eddy Ben Arous, Rabah Slimani, Jefferson Poirot, Benjamin Kayser, Yacouba Camara, Damien Chouly, Alexandre Flanquart, Loann Goujon, Guilhem Guirado, Paul Jedrasiak, Wenceslas Lauret, Bernard Le Roux, Yoann Maestri, Louis Picamoles, Sebastien Vahaamahina

Backs (14): Sebastien Bezy, Hugo Bonneval, Jonathan Danty, Alexandre Dumoulin, Benjamin Fall, Gael Fickou, Wesley Fofana, Remi Lamerat, Maxime Machenaud, Maxime Medard, Morgan Parra, Jules Plisson, Scott Spedding, Francois Trinh-Duc