France Roster Finalized for Argentina Tour

The 28 players who will represent France against Argentina are now confirmed. Head Coach Guy Noves added 11 names to the 17 already in Tucumán. Of those departing Paris for South America five are uncapped – Clément Maynadier (Bordeaux), Lucas Pointud (Brive), Geoffrey Palis (Castres), Fabrice Metz (Oyonnax) and Kélian Galletier (Montpellier).

Also on the plane will be Remí Lamerat and Geoffrey Palis of Castres who were in a losing effort on Sunday against Montpellier in the Top 14 barrage. The five remaining players are all of Toulouse, the losing club from Saturday’s barrage playoff.

The Toulouse contingent is Sébastien Bézy, Yoann Maestri, Maxime Médard, Louis Picamoles and Gael Fickou. All five played in the Six Nations.

With regular captain Guilhem Guirado missing from the tour, leadership will fall on the shoulders of veterans including Maestri, Médard, Picamoles and François Trinh-Duc. At 30 years old Picamoles is the oldest player on the roster.

So much inexperience exists in Noves’ team that a staging 12 players have never played a test for France. Those players are Rémi Bonfils, William Demotte, Kélian Galletier, Kevin Gourdon, Julien Le Devedec, Clément Maynadier, Fabrice Metz, Xavier Mignot, Geoffrey Palis, Lucas Pointud, Julien Rey, and Baptiste Serin.

FORWARDS
Uini Atonio (La Rochelle), Lucas Pointud (Brive), Jefferson Poirot (Bordeaux), Rabah Slimani (Stade Français), Rémi Bonfils (Stade Français), Clément Maynadier (Bordeaux), William Demotte (Agen), Julien Le Devedec (Bordeaux), Yoann Maestri (Toulouse), Fabrice Metz (Oyonnax), Kélian Galletier (Montpellier), Loann Goujon (Bordeaux), Kevin Gourdon (La Rochelle), Raphael Lakafia (Stade Français), Louis Picamoles (Toulouse)

BACKS
Sébastien Bézy (Toulouse), Baptiste Serin (Bordeaux), Jules Plisson (Stade Français), François Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), Jonathan Danty (Stade Français), Gaël Fickou (Toulouse), Rémi Lamerat (Castres), Julien Rey (Bordeaux), Djibril Camara (Stade Français), Maxime Médard (Toulouse), Xavier Mignot (Grenoble), Hugo Bonneval (Stade Français), Geoffrey Palis (Castres)