Philippe Saint-Andre names French squad – Rugby News Update
Philippe Saint-Andre has named his squad that will face Argentina in Cordoba on June 16, and in Tucuman, on June 23.
He had stated earlier that he did not want to take the more experienced players to Argentina, and staying true to his words, he has called up nine uncapped players for the touring party. Andre left out Aurelien Rougerie, Imanol Harinordoquy, Dimitri Yachvili,
Vincent Clerc, and skipper Thierry Dusautoir. In his place Pascal Pape will be captain.
Saint-Andre became the French coach at the beginning of the 2011/12 season, taking over from Marc Lievremont. He had his tenure with a win against Italy, defeating the Azzurri’s 30-12. Prior to taking up the French job, he had coached in the Premiership
and also Toulon in the Top 14.
Andre has also called up props Antoine Guillamon, Yvan Watremez and Christopher Tolofua. They will be aided by Romain Taofifenua and Toulon lock, Christophe Sansom.
In the backs he has called up the uncapped Maxime Machenaud, Geoffrey Doumayrou, Romain Martial and Brice Dulin. He has given a recall to Frederic Michalak, who last played for France in 2010. It will be a chance for the mercurial player to show that he
is worthy of more French caps.
Andre is a former French winger, having played 69 games for his country, starting 68 of those. He made his debut against Romania at Auch, on May 24, 1990, and played his last international match against South Africa at Parc des Princes, on November 22, 1997.
He started his coaching career with Gloucester in 1998, having played for them for two years.
France squad:
Forwards: David Attoub (Stade Français), Vincent Debaty (Clermont), Antoine Guillamon (Lyon), Yvan Watremez (Biarritz), Christopher Tolofua (Toulouse), Dimitri Szarzewski (Stade Français), Yoan Maestri (Toulouse), Christophe Samson (Toulon), Pascal Pape
(Stade Français), Romain Taofifenua (Perpignan), Alexandre Lapandry (Clermont), Wenceslas Lauret (Biarritz), Fulgence Ouedraogo (Montpellier), Louis Picamoles (Toulouse), Raphael Lakafia (Biarritz)
Backs: Maxime Machenaud (Agen), Morgan Parra (Clermont), Frederic Michalak (Sharks), Francois Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), Geoffrey Doumayrou (Montpellier), Florian Fritz (Toulouse), Wesley Fofana (Clermont), Maxime Mermoz (Perpignan), Benjamin Fall (Racing
Metro), Romain Martial (Castres), Yoann Huget (Bayonne), Jean Marcellin-Buttin (Clermont), Brice Dulin (Agen)
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