Rugby:Toulouse's teenager centre Gael Fickou has been rewarded for some standout performances for his club with a call-up to the French squad for November's schedule of three Test matches.
Manager Philippe Saint-Andre has called up eight uncapped players in his 33-man squad as he continues to rejuvenate France.
The squad, which can be amended in between matches, features 15 players aged 25 or less while only 10 players from the 2011 World Cup were named.
Toulon flanker Pierrick Gunther, 23, is another of the young exciting prospects in the squad.
“I wanted to stay true to what we’ve done in Argentina (last June),” said Saint-Andre.
Captain Thierry Dusautoir, who had been rested in June, is back in the squad, however.
The squad will be reduced to 23 ahead of a training camp which will start five days before the opening November Test.
World Cup runners-up France will take on Australia at the Stade de France on November 10th, Argentina in Lille on November 17th and Samoa at the Stade de France a week later.
Squad - Forwards:Nicolas Mas (Perpignan), David Attoub (Stade Francais), Eddy Ben Arous* (Racing Metro), Vincent Debaty (Clermont Auvergne), Thomas Domingo (Clermont Auvergne), Yannick Forestier* (Castres), Dimitri Szarzewski (Racing Metro), Christopher Tolofua (Toulouse), Benjamin Kayser (Clermont Auvergne), Pascal Papé (Stade Francais), Yoann Maestri (Toulouse), Sébastien Vahaamahina* (Perpignan), Jocelino Suta* (Toulon), Thierry Dusautoir (Toulouse), Wenceslas Lauret (Biarritz), Fulgence Ouedraogo (Montpellier), Damien Chouly (Clermont Auvergne), Louis Picamoles (Toulouse), Pierrick Gunther* (Toulon)
Backs:Morgan Parra (Clermont Auvergne), Maxime Machenaud (Racing Metro), Frédéric Michalak (Toulon), François Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), Jules Plisson* (Stade Francais), Maxime Mermoz (Toulon), Wesley Fofana (Clermont Auvergne), Florian Fritz (Toulouse), Gael Fickou* (Toulouse), Vincent Clerc (Toulouse), Yoann Huget (Toulouse), Benjamin Fall (Racing Metro), Brice Dulin (Castres), Vincent Martin* (Toulon).
*denotes uncapped player
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/IMNWKIX5DFFCFE5CD5NLBU6EVY.png)