Racing 92 name extended squad for Summer Cup

French Top 14 club Racing 92 has named a preliminary 42-man squad for the upcoming ‘Rugby Summer Cup’ that will see them playing matches against Brazil and the Argentina XV in Tbilisi, Georgia. Included are an impressive 22 full international players and a number of new signings.

France loose forward Fabien Sanconnie, Ireland speedster Simon Zebo, and highly-rated midfielder Olivier Klemenczak are set to debut in the Parisian club’s colors. Also named are a trio of new flyhalf additions – Scotland starter Finn Russell, Fiji’s Ben Volavola, and veteran Raphaël Lagarde. Also present is standout France u20 No8 Jordan Joseph who joins from Massy Essonne.

Argentina winger Juan Imhoff is set to play against his home nation while the side also has a local connection in Georgian prop Guram Gogichashvili.

Only a handful of first team players have not been considered. Injured halfback duo Maxime Machenaud and Patrick Lambie miss out, while star second row Leone Nakarawa is rested after representing Fiji in the Rugby World Cup Sevens. New second row Dominic Bird has not yet arrived from New Zealand.

FIXTURES
Sat, July 28 – 21:30 local, 13:30 ET – vs Brazil
Fri, August 3 – 19:00 local, 11:00 ET – vs Argentina XV

FORWARDS
LH: Eddy Ben Arous, Vasil Kakovin, Guram Gogichashvili
HO: Camille Chat, Dimitri Szarzewski, Ole Avei, Teddy Baubigny, Issam Hamel
TH: Cédate Gomes Sa, Census Johnston, Ben Tameifuna, Georges-Henri Colombe
LO: Donnacha Ryan, Bernard le Roux, Edwin Maka, Boris Palu
FL: Wenceslas Lauret, Baptiste Chouzenoux, Ibrahim Diallo, Esteban Abadie
N8: Fabien Sanconnie, Antonie Claassen, Jordan Joseph

BACKS
SH: Xavier Chauveau, Teddy Iribaren, Antoine Gibert
FH: Finn Russell, Raphaël Lagarde, Ben Volavola, Luigi Tarozzi
CE: Henry Chavancy, Olivier Klemenczak, Léonard Paris, Anatole Pauvert, Théo Costosseque
WI: Joe Rokocoko, Juan Imhoff, Teddy Thomas, Virimi Vakatawa
FB: Brice Dulin, Simon Zebo, Louis Dupichot