France name 25 man squad to face England

France coach Philippe Saint-Andre has left half-backs Sebastien Tillous-Borde
and Frederic Michalak out his 25-man squad for this weekend’s World Cup warm-up
against England at Twickenham.

Saint-Andre has kept scrum-halves Rory Kockott and Morgan Parra, as well as
fly-halves Remi Tales and Francois Trinh-Duc for Les Bleus’ first pre-World
Cup warm-up clash.

Saint-Andre insisted it didn’t mean either Tillous-Borde or Michalak were out
of contention for making his final 31-man World Cup squad, though.

Tillous-Borde, 30, is coming back from a knee injury while Saint-Andre believes
Michalak, 32, needs rest.

“He was injured a lot with Toulon this last season,” said Saint-Andre
of the 71-capped Michalak.

“He hasn’t had any niggles in preparation but we wanted to give him another
week.”

Some of the 11 players left out of the squad being taken to London are those
from Top 14 finalists Stade Francais and Clermont, whose season only finished
on June 13.

One who wasn’t involved in that game is France captain Thierry Dusautoir, who
misses out due to a knee problem.

Following Saturday’s match, France will host England at the Stade de France
a week later and then begin their World Cup campaign against Italy at Twickenham
on September 19.

France 25-man squad to face England

Forwards (14): Uini Atonio, Xavier Chiocci, Vincent Debaty, Nicolas Mas, Rabah
Slimani, Guilhem Guirado, Dimitri Szarzewski, Alexandre Flanquart, Yoann Maestri,
Sebastien Vahaamahina, Yannick Nyanga, Fulgence Ouedraogo, Loann Goujon, Louis
Picamoles

Backs (11): Rory Kockott, Morgan Parra, Remi Tales, Francois Trinh-Duc, Alexandre
Dumoulin, Gael Fickou, Remi Lamerat, Brice Dulin, Sofiane Guitoune, Yoann Huget,
Scott Spedding