Fofana and Maestri get French chance

NEW France coach Philippe Saint-Andre has included two uncapped players in his provisional 30-man squad for the RBS 6 Nations.

Clermont Auvergne centre Wesley Fofana and Toulouse lock Yoann Maestri are rewarded for their outstanding club form, while Saint-Andre has also recalled several players deemed surplus to requirements by his predecessor Marc Lievremont.

Among them are the Toulouse trio of Clement Poitrenaud, Lionel Beauxis and Yannick Nyanga. Fly-half Beauxis last played for Les Bleus in 2009, while flanker Nyanga has not featured since the 2007 World Cup.

But there is no place for centre Mathieu Bastareaud or scrum-half Julien Dupuy.

Saint-Andre has retained 22 of the squad that reached the World Cup final and the exceptional Toulouse flanker Thierry Dusautoir, the IRB World Player of the Year, will retain the captaincy.

France: Forwards: F Barcella (Biarritz), V Debaty (Clermont), L Ducalcon (Castres), N Mas (Perpignan), JB Poux (Toulouse), W Servat (Toulouse), D Szarzewski (Stade Francais), Y Maestri (Toulouse), R Millo-Chluski (Toulouse), P Pape (Stade Francais), J Pierre (Clermont), I Harinordoquy (Biarritz), T Dusautoir (Toulouse, capt), F Ouedraogo (Montpellier), Y Nyanga (Toulouse), L Picamoles (Toulouse), J Bonnaire (Clermont).

Backs: M Parra (Clermont), D Yachvili (Biarritz), L Beauxis (Toulouse), F Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), Y David (Toulouse), W Fofana (Clermont), M Mermoz (Perpignan), A Rougerie (Clermont), V Clerc (Toulouse), J Malzieu (Clermont), A Palisson (Toulon), M Medard (Toulouse), C Poitrenaud (Toulouse).