Willemse among new names in France squad

Giant South African lock Paul Willemse is among five uncapped players named by France coach Jacques Brunel to prepare for the Six Nations Championship. The 26-year-old represented his home nation up to u20 level but received his French citizenship on November 30 and now qualifies for his adopted country on residency having lived there since late 2014.

In typical French fashion the new squad sees numerous alterations to that of November, both due to injury and preference. The other newcomers include La Rochelle loose forward Grégory Alldritt and three Toulouse standouts – tighthead prop Dorian Aldegheri, flyhalf or centre Romain Ntamack, and fullback Thomas Ramos. Ntamack is the son of former France great Emile Ntamack.

Front row trio Pierre Bourgarit, Julien Marchand, and Demba Bamba will look to expand on their single test appearances, with Lyon second row Félix Lambey having just two on his resume. Arthur Iturria and Bernard le Roux are selected as second or back row options, with Yacouba Camara recalled after missing both the June and November internationals.

Morgan Parra is set to continue his club partnership with Camille Lopez in the halfbacks and there are three centres with more than 40 caps to their names – Gaël Fickou, Wesley Fofana, and Mathieu Bastareaud. With the latter favored by Brunel in the No13 jersey it’s possible that either Fickou or Fofana could be used on the wing.

France begin their Six Nations campaign at home against Wales on February 1. Their progress will be closely monitored by fans and team members of the USA and Argentina, both of whom will line up opposite Les Bleus in Pool C of Rugby World Cup 2019.

FORWARDS
Dorian Aldegheri (Toulouse), Uini Atonio (La Rochelle), Demba Bamba (Brive), Jefferson Poirot (Bordeaux Bègles), Dany Priso (La Rochelle), Pierre Bourgarit (La Rochelle), Guilhem Guirado (capt., Toulon), Julien Marchand (Toulouse), Félix Lambey (Lyon), Sébastian Vaha’amahina (Clermont Auvergne), Paul Willemse (Montpellier), Arthur Iturria (Clermont Auvergne), Bernard le Roux (Racing 92), Grégory Alldritt (La Rochelle), Yacouba Camara (Montpellier), Wenceslas Lauret (Racing 92), Louis Picamoles (Montpellier)

BACKS
Antoine Dupont (Toulouse), Morgan Parra (Clermont Auvergne), Baptiste Serin (Bordeaux Bègles), Anthony Belleau (Toulon), Camille Lopez (Clermont Auvergne), Romain Ntamack (Toulouse), Mathieu Bastareaud (Toulon), Geoffrey Doumayrou (La Rochelle), Gaël Fickou (Stade Français), Wesley Fofana (Clermont Auvergne), Yoann Huget (Toulouse), Damian Penaud (Clermont Auvergne), Maxime Médard (Toulouse), Thomas Ramos (Toulouse)