Chabal and Servat not included in French Squad to Tour South Africa
France’s selection committee has named their 30-man squad to tour South Africa and Argentina in June and a 26-man “A” squad for the Churchill Cup.
Senior players Sébastien Chabal and William Servat have been rested. Former Sale Sharks star Chabal has been struggling with a back problem for months and Servat has hardly missed a game with Toulouse all season.
Toulouse players David Skrela and Louis Picamoles return to the group.
The only new faces in the squad are 24-year-old Perpignan full-back Jérôme Porical and 21-year-old Biarritz loose forward Wenceslas Lauret.
Montpellier loose-forward Fulgence Ouedraogo Stade Français back row Antoine Burban, Brive full-back Alexis Palisson, and fly-half Fabrice Estebanez were not considered for selection as punishment for their clubs refusing to release them for the French Sevens side in May.
Head coach Marc Lièvremont suggested that other tired players might be rested for the match against Argentina.
“There are certain notable absentees as we manage fatigue and game-time issues,” said Lievremont.
Benefit
“William Servat has played three seasons back-to-back at a high level and we’d prefer to leave him rest so he can fully benefit from the off-season.
“It’s also the case with Sebastien Chabal, who is suffering with a back problem, and also the case with Alexandre Lapandry.”
“Senior players like Lionel Nallet, Thierry Dusautoir or Yannick Jauzion, who have played a lot could play just one Test,” said Lièvremont.
“Our main objective is the match against South Africa. After that they could be rested.”
Meanwhile, manager Fabien Pelous and coach Olivier Magne have named suspended Stade Français scrum-half Julien Dupuy in a very strong squad for the Churchill Cup in Colorado from June 5 to 19.
France:
Forwards: Fabien Barcella (Biarritz), Thomas Domingo (Clermont), Dimitri Szarzewski (Stade Français), Guilhem Guirado (Perpignan), Nicolas Mas (Perpignan), Luc Ducalcon (Castres), Jean-Baptiste Poux (Stade Toulousain), Romain Millo-Chluski (Stade Toulousain), Lionel Nallet (Racing-Métro), Pascal Papé (Stade Français), Julien Pierre (Clermont), Imanol Harinordoquy (Biarritz), Louis Picamoles (Stade Toulousain), Thierry Dusautoir (Stade Toulousain, cap.), Julien Bonnaire (Clermont), Wenceslas Lauret (Biarritz).
Backs:Dimitri Yachvili (Biarritz), Morgan Parra (Clermont), François Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), David Skrela (Stade Toulousain), Maxime Mermoz (Perpignan), Yannick Jauzion (Stade Toulousain), David Marty (Perpignan), Mathieu Bastareaud (Stade Français), Vincent Clerc (Stade Toulousain), Marc Andreu (Castres), Clément Poitrenaud (Stade Toulousain), Jérôme Porical (Perpignan), Aurélien Rougerie (Clermont), Julien Malzieu (Clermont).
Fixtures:
12 June: South Africa v France, Cape Town
18 June: Province of Bueno Aires v French XV
26 June: Argentina v France, Buenos Aires
France A:
Forwards:Jérôme Schuster(USA Perpignan), Yannick Forestier (Castres), Benjamin Kayser (Stade Français), Jean-Philippe Genevois (CS Bourgoin-Jallieu), Clément Baiocco (Racing Métro 92), Rabah Slimani (Stade Français) Yoann Maestri (Stade Toulousain), Joselino Suta (RC Toulon), Guillaume Vilaceca (USA Perpignan), Antoine Battut (US Montauban), Sylvain Nicolas (CS Bourgoin-Jallieu), Florian Faure(Biarritz OPB), Grégory Lamboley (Stade Toulousain), Jean-Pierre Perez (USA Perpignan).
Backs:Julien Dupuy (Stade Français), Nicolas Durand (USA Perpignan), Lionel Beauxis (Stade Français), Benjamin Boyet (CS Bourgoin-Jallieu) Florian Fritz (Stade Toulousain), Yann David (Stade Toulousain), Henri Chavancy(Racing Métro 92), Lionel Mazars (Aviron Bayonnais), Maxime Medard (Stade Toulousain), Adrien Plante (USA Perpignan), Farid Sid (USA Perpignan), Benjamin Thiery (Montpellier HRC).
[Info from Sky Sports]
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