Big names have been included on the French Barbarians roster. The team will face the Men’s Eagles at AVEVA Stadium in Houston on July 1. The non-test match will serve as a warm-up for the World Cup Qualifying series against Chile scheduled for July 9 in Santiago and July 16 in Denver.
The French Barbarians will be coached by Christian Labit and Kevin Gourdon. They have named a roster containing Louis Picamoles, Jefferson Poirot and François Trinh-Duc. The trio played for France at Rugby World Cups. Former French fullback Nans Ducuing is also included.
This will be the first time the USA has faced the French Barbarians. Founded in 1979, they were briefly considered France’s ‘next senior’ select side from 2017-2020 but have since returned to their invitational roots. Players are selected from French clubs and similar to England’s Barbarian Rugby Club there are typically multiple nationalities included.
JULY INTERNATIONALS – FRENCH BARBARIANS ROSTER
HOOKER
Clément Maynadier (Bordeaux)
Adrien Pélissié (Clermont)
PROP
Nicolas Corato (Pau)
Arthur Joly (Perpignan)
Jefferson Poirot (Bordeaux)
Sébastien Taofifenua (Lyon)
SECOND-ROW
Alexandre Roumat (Bordeaux)
Romain Sazy (La Rochelle)
BACK-ROW
Esteban Abadie (Brive)
Anthime Hemery (Racing 92)
Louis Picamoles (Bordeaux)
William Wavrin (Mont de Marsan)
SCRUM-HALF
Thomas Berjon (La Rochelle)
Samuel Marques (Carcassonne)
FLY HALF
Louis Foursans (Montpellier)
François Trinh-Duc (Bordeaux)
Raphaël Lagarde (Agen)
CENTER
Pierre Aguillon (Castres)
Jean-Baptiste Dubié (Bordeaux)
WING
Adrien Lapègue (Stade Français)
FULLBACK
Mathieu Acebes (Perpignan)
Nans Ducuing (Bordeaux)