Castaignede recalled by France

Saracens‘ Thomas Castaignede will play for France for the first time in two years after being named in the team to face South Africa at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille on Saturday.

Castaignede, who ruptured his Achilles tendon in November 2000, has been pencilled in at outside centre.

Toulouse winger Vincent Clerc has been chosen by coach Bernard Laporte and will make his debut against the Springboks, while his club-mate Cedric Heymans has been preferred to winger David Bory.

Agen’s Francois Gelez is selected at fly-half, ahead of Gerald Merceron who is on the bench.

Former Gloucester scrum-half Dmitri Yachvili could make his France debut after being named as a replacement.