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New dawn for France with 19 uncapped players among Six Nations squad

The new France coaching staff have named a squad of 42 for this season's Six Nations.  Included ...



The new France coaching staff have named a squad of 42 for this season's Six Nations. 

Included among that number are a whopping 19 uncapped players and new Les Bleus captain Charles Ollivon.

France begin their Six Nations campaign with the visit of England to the Stade de France on Sunday, February 2. Their meeting with Andy Farrell's Ireland comes in the final round of games in Paris on March 14.

The increased volume of 31 to 42 players follows discussions between the FFR and the Top 14's governing body, the LNR (Ligue Nationale de Rugby). Along with that agreement, 14 players will be released back to their clubs on the Thursday after training of a Six Nations week.

There's also a financial element to that agreement, with a profit-sharing scheme based on France's performance which could see clubs pocket €1.85million in the event of a Les Bleus Grand Slam.

Missing from that list of 42 are experienced names like Maxime Machenaud, Camille Lopez, Maxime Médard, Rabah Slimani and Yoann Huget.

Only 15 of the squad that travelled to Japan for the World Cup in the autumn survive for this Six Nations.

Galthié says the selection of his first Six Nations squad has been an amicable one, "No one is left out and no one has told us that they do not want to come.

"There have been very open discussions. The players were free to provide feedback which has given us a lot to set up our framework.

"For the more experienced who are still at our disposal, we called them and they understand our selection."

France 2020 Six Nations squad 

Hookers: Julien Marchand (Toulouse), Camille Chat (Racing 92), Anthony Etrillard (Toulon)

Props: Demba Bamba (Lyon), Jefferson Poirot (Bordeaux-Begles), Cyril Baille (Toulouse), Jean-Baptiste Gros (Toulon), Mohamed Haouas (Montpellier), Dorian Aldegheri (Toulouse)

Locks: Kilian Geraci (Lyon), Romain Taofifenua (Toulon), Cyril Cazeaux (Bordeaux-Begles), Boris Palu (Racing 92), Paul Willemse (Montpellier), Bernard Le Roux (Racing 92)

Back rows: Charles Ollivon (Toulon), Grégory Alldritt (La Rochelle), François Cros (Toulouse), Dylan Cretin (Lyon), Alexandre Fischer (Clermont Auvergne), Sekou Macalou (Stade Francais), Selevasio Tolofua (Toulouse), Cameron Woki (Bordeaux-Begles)

Scrum Half: Antoine Dupont (Toulouse), Baptiste Serin (Toulon), Maxime Lucu (Bordeaux-Begles)

Out halves: Romain Ntamack (Toulouse), Matthieu Jalibert (Bordeaux-Begles), Louis Carbonel (Toulon)

Centres: Virimi Vakatawa (Racing 92), Gaël Fickou (Stade Francais), Julien Hériteau (Toulon), Arthur Vincent (Montpellier)

Wings: Damian Penaud (Clermont Auvergne), Teddy Thomas (Racing 92), Gervais Cordin (Toulon), Lester Estien (Stade Francais), Gabriel Ngandebe (Montpellier), Vincent Rattez (La Rochelle)

Full-backs: Thomas Ramos (Toulouse), Kylan Hamdaoui (Stade Francais), Anthony Bouthier (Montpellier)

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Andy Farrell Bordeaux-Begles Clermont England Fabien Galthie France Ireland Les Bleus Racing 92 Raphael Ibanez Six Nations Stade De France Top 14 Toulouse