Who will France take to Argentina in June?

With the Top 14 Final not being played until June 24 an important question needs to be answered – who will France take to Argentina in June?

Los Pumas are to reignite their classic contest against Les Bleus, or are they? The simple answer is that Head Coach Guy Noves is to be forced to put together a vastly different roster than that which he would select if the tour were to occur several weeks later.

Non-eligible Clubs
The Top 14 will be staged outside of France for the first time. With France playing host to soccer’s Euro 2016 all venues were off-limits which resulted in the LNR looking abroad to Barcelona and allocating the final to the Spanish city.

The Semi Finals are to be played over the prior weekend at Roazhon Park in Rennes, Brittany. They are to be preceded by the barrage play-offs on June 11 and 12. Players involved in barrage are thereby to be off-limits.

The June 18 and June 25 test matches dates in Argentina mean France will be departing for South America on the same weekend as the barrage play-offs. The six best performing French clubs this season are therefore to have no players taking to the field in Tucumán against Los Pumas.

Eligible Clubs
At present it remains uncertain as to who the top six from the regular season will be. At the present point in time the teams positioned first though sixth are Clermont, Toulon, Montpellier, Racing 92, Bordeaux and Toulouse.

With seven rounds remaining there is potential for a lot of change. Previous seasons are testament to this. Though with the fifth and sixth placed Bordeaux and Toulouse jointly being some eight points ahead of the seventh placed Castres the existing standings would appear to be a strong possibility.

Castres has the roster and experience to rise into the barrage play-offs though it will take a number of shock results for any other side to finish in the top six. Of those below Castres three clubs have been impressing at times as they juggle the rocky-road of home and away assignments. They are Brive, Grenoble and La Rochelle. They are all a bonus point win or less behind Castres at present.

Those further down can already be considered a no-chance of playing in the barrage play-offs. Noves will thus have full access to all players from Pau, Stade Français, Oyonnax and Agen. Of these four Stade Français is a nice treasure chest as it is home to seven players who Noves selected for the Six Nations. None of the three others had players involved.

Who is Out
The extent of the loss France is to face is mammoth. Indeed a total of thirty-six players from the Six Nations are contracted to the six leading clubs. Others from the same clubs have been close to selection by Noves of played under previous coach, Philippe Saint-Andre at Rugby World Cup 2015.

Those falling into either of these two categories are detailed below in the following table. Excluded are players contracted to these clubs who have announced their international retirements.

Player	Position	Club
Eddy Ben Rous	Loosehead Prop	Racing 92
Vincent Debaty	Loosehead Prop	Clermont
Alexandre Menini	Loosehead Prop	Toulon
Jefferson Poirot	Loosehead Prop	Bordeaux
Camille Chat	Hooker	Racing 92
Guilhem Guirado	Hooker	Toulon
Benjamin Kayser	Hooker	Clermont
Dimitri Szarzewski	Hooker	Racing 92
Xavier Chiocci	Tighthead Prop	Toulon
Paul Jedrasiak	Second-row	Clermont
Yoann Maestri	Second-row	Toulouse
Sébastien Vahaamahina	Second-row	Clermont
Yacouba Camara	Back-row	Toulouse
Damien Chouly	Back-row	Clermont
Wenceslas Lauret	Back-row	Racing 92
Bernard Le Roux	Back-row	Racing 92
Yannick Nyanga	Back-row	Racing 92
Fulgence Ouedraogo	Back-row	Montpellier
Loann Goujon	Number 8	Bordeaux
Charles Ollivon	Number 8	Toulon
Louis Picamoles	Number 8	Toulouse
Sebastien Bezy	Scrum half	Toulouse
Jean-Marc Doussain	Scrum half	Toulouse
Maxime Machenaud	Scrum half	Racing 92
Morgan Parra	Scrum half	Clermont
Baptiste Serin	Scrum half	Bordeaux
Sebastien Tillous-Borde	Scrum half	Toulon
Camille Lopez	Fly half	Clermont
Frédéric Michalak	Fly half	Toulon
Remi Tales	Fly half	Racing 92
François Trinh-Duc	Fly half	Montpellier
Wesley Fofana	Inside Center	Clermont
Maxime Mermoz	Inside Center	Toulon
Mathieu Bastareaud	Outside Center	Toulon
Alexandre Dumoulin	Outside Center	Racing 92
Gael Fickou	Outside Center	Toulouse
Benjamin Fall	Wing	Montpellier
Sofiane Guitoune	Wing	Bordeaux
Yoann Huget	Wing	Toulouse
Noa Nakaitaci	Wing	Clermont
Marvin O’Connor	Wing	Montpellier
Teddy Thomas	Wing	Racing 92
Brice Dulin	Fullback	Racing 92
Maxime Médard	Fullback	Toulouse
Scott Spedding	Fullback	Clermont

Best Bets
The list of 45 players highlights the extent of the problem facing France. It is not a total doom scenario however as the positions of tighthead prop and second-row are to have elite players available. The remaining positions are to see two or more specialists missing.

In all likelihood the team will be greatly based on Castres and Stade Français with the remaining clubs contributing a handful or no players to the roster. Also to be utilized are French Rugby Sevens players, Virimi Vatakawa being an obvious case in point. A potential second player is Robinson Caire who, in addition to France 7’s duty, made ten appearances for Grenoble this season.

Also in consideration will be a number of current former French under 20’s players. The Biarritz duo of hooker Romain Ruffenach and winger Kylan Hamdaoui being two such instances. Agen are set to be relegated back to the Pro d2 which may see a number of players transfer. Center François Bouvierand Xavier Mignot of Grenoble are possibilities. Second-row issues may see a junior, such as Mathieu Tanguy, included.

Selecting a 31-man roster based on players from Top 14 clubs Agen, Brive, Castres, Grenoble, La Rochelle, Oyonnax, Pau, Stade Français, the Pro d2 and France’s 7’s system could potentially see the following touring Argentina.

Forwards (17): Thomas Bianchin (Pau), Remi Bonfils (Stade Français), Uini Atonio (La Rochelle), Vincent Pelo (La Rochelle), Lucas Pointud (Brive), Rabah Slimani (Stade Français), Antoine Tichit (Castres), Alexandre Flanquart (Stade Français), Arnaud Méla (Brive), Christophe Samson (Castres), Mathieu Tanguy (La Rochelle), Fabien Alexandre (Grenoble), Antoine Burban (Stade Français), Mahamadou Diaby (Grenoble), Kevin Gourdon (La Rochelle), Rafael Lakafia (Stade Français), Sekou Macalou (Stade Français).

Backs (14): Antoine Dupont (Castres), Rory Kockott (Castres), Brandon Fajardo (Pau), Jules Plisson (Stade Français), Jonathan Wisniewski (Grenoble), Jonathan Danty (Stade Français), Remi Lamerat (Castres), Arnaud Mignardi (Brive), Xavier Mignot (Grenoble), Djibril Camara (Stade Français), Julien Caminati (Castres), Virimi Vatakawa (France Sevens), Hugo Bonneval (Stade Français), Gaetan Germain (Brive).

Starting Formation
There are a number of standout players from the list, many of whom are on top of their game this season. Gaetan Germain leads the Top 14 scoring, not for the first season. Joining him in regularly making team of the week lists is Jonathan Wisniewski while Antoine Tichit and Lucas Pointud are destructive props.

Additional uncapped players of note can be identified. Fabien Alexandre, Remi Bonfils, Kevin Gourdon and Sekou Macalou being cases in point.

The potential starting formation based on the above roster could be similar or identical to that listed below. Identifying a captain is another exercise altogether.

#	Player	Club
1	Antoine Tichit	Castres
2	Remi Bonfils	Stade Français
3	Rabah Slimani	Stade Français
4	Alexandre Flanquart	Stade Français
5	Christophe Samson	Castres
6	Sekou Macalou	Stade Français
7	Fabien Alexandre	Grenoble
8	Kevin Gourdon	La Rochelle
9	Rory Kockott	Castres
10	Jules Plisson	Stade Français
11	Virimi Vatakawa	France Sevens
12	Remi Lamerat	Castres
13	Jonathan Danty	Stade Français
14	Hugo Bonneval	Stade Français
15	Gaetan Germain	Brive