included uncapped Toulouse hooker William Servat and Bourgoin lock Pascal Pape in his squad for the Six Nations opener v Ireland.
France coach Bernard Laporte has included uncapped Toulouse hooker William Servat and Bourgoin lock Pascal Pape in a 22-man squad to play Ireland in the Six Nations opener in Paris on February 14th.
New Zealand-born centre Tony Marsh, struggling with injury, was overlooked but veteran loosehead prop Jean-Jacques Crenca and left wing Christophe Dominici were surprisingly retained.
South African-born Pieter De Villiers, suspended from the 2003 Six Nations tournament after testing positive for recreational drugs, wins a recall. He missed last year's World Cup in Australia after breaking a collar bone when he fell off a bike in the Alps during France's training camp.
Toulouse scrum-half Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, left wing Vincent Clerc and Biarritz flanker Thomas Lievremont who were not selected for the World Cup, are also recalled.
South African-born Brian Liebenberg, a controversial World Cup selection, kept his place after performing well as a backup in Australia.
Elissalde, half-back partner to Frederic Michalak for Toulouse, will be competing with Biarritz scrum-half Dimitri Yachvili, the understudy of retired captain Fabien Galthie all last season, for the No 9 shirt.
Veteran lock Fabien Pelous successfully came through his comeback match for Toulouse against Edinburgh in the European Cup over the weekend and will lead the side.
The 30-year-old, who has been capped 86 times, captained France 15 times between 1997 and 2002 and took over from Galthie when the scrum-half was injured for the last three matches of the 2003 Six Nations. "These are the best players we have at our disposal," France manager Jo Maso said. "We are keen to get off to a good start in the Six Nations which will tell us a lot of things in the aftermath of the World Cup. We are out to win the Six Nations and that means we must send out the best team possible against Ireland."
It was Laporte's first selection announcement since the traumatic 24-7 loss to England in the World Cup semi-final in Sydney on November 16. Although criticised for his tactics in that game and for allowing morale in the French camp to deteriorate afterwards, Laporte retained his position and has been named as coach for the next four years taking France though to the next World Cup finals which they will host.
France Six Nations squad to play Ireland: Forwards: Pieter De Villiers (Stade Francais), Yannick Bru (Toulouse), Sylvain Marconnet (Stade Francais), Jean-Jacques Crenca (Agen), William Servat (Toulouse), Fabien Pelous (Toulouse, capt), David Auradou (Stade Francais), Pascal Pape (Bourgoin), Olivier Magne (Montferrand), Imanol Harinordoquy (Pau), Serge Betsen (Biarritz), Thomas Lievremont (Biarritz) Backs: Nicolas Brusque (Biarritz), Vincent Clerc (Toulouse), Pepito Elhorga (Agen), Yannick Jauzion (Toulouse), Brian Liebenberg (Stade Francais), Damien Traille (Pau), Jean-Baptiste Elissalde (Toulouse), Dimitri Yachvili (Biarritz), Frederic Michalak (Toulouse), Christophe Dominici (Stade Francais)