KEY POINTS:
MARCOUSSIS, France - France have named a predictably under-strength 33-man squad for their rugby tour of New Zealand next month, leaving out all the leading players still involved in the latter stages of the French championship.
The touring party will be reduced to 26 players on the eve
of departure when the last round of the Top 14 on May 26 will decide if holders Biarritz or Perpignan, join Stade Francais, Toulouse and Clermont in the last four.
The provisional squad named today for tests on June 2 in Auckland and June 9 in Wellington contain a host of new faces, including 19-year-old centre Mathieu Bastareaud, whose Massy club play in the third division.
Coach Bernard Laporte defended Bastareaud's inclusion only for the player to later withdraw from the squad due to a knee injury.
As a replacement, the selectors decided to pick both Perpignan's Jean-Philippe Grandclaude and Arnaud Mignardi, of Agen, who had been in contention for just one place in the early list.
The selectors said should Perpignan qualify for the Top 14 semifinals, they would reconsider Grandclaude's selection.
"No, it's not a murder," Laporte had said when asked whether he was sending Bastareaud "to the slaughter house".
"Bastareaud is a very powerful player and he has the mental strength of a 25-year-old. Several top-flight clubs wanted to sign him and he will join Agen next season."
Another surprise was the selection of two seasoned players who might have considered their international career to be over, Olivier Magne and Christian Califano.
"It's up to them to prove they are still competitive," Laporte said of the 34-year-old flanker and the 35-year-prop who won the last of their 88th and 69th caps in 2006 and 2003 respectively.
Magne and Califano will bring a strong English flavour to the squad along with captain Raphael Ibanez, hooker Sebastien Bruno, flanker Sebastien Chabal and fullbacks Thomas Castaignede and Julien Laharrague, who all play club rugby in the premiership.
"We tried to postpone or cancel the tour with financial compensation, but in vain," team manager Jo Maso said.
"I think our English and Irish are friends are in the same situation and will send second-string teams to South Africa and Argentina."
Laporte, however, stressed that "all the players will play for interesting stakes".
"For some of them it will at short term because they can still grab a berth in our World Cup squad, some will have a medium-term goal because rugby will not stop after the World Cup, some will play for the future like Bastareaud."
Squad:-
Forwards: David Attoub, Christian Califano, Franck Montanella, Nicolas Mas or Benoit Lecouls, Raphael Ibanez (captain), Sebastien Bruno, Pascal Pape, Julien Pierre, Olivier Olibeau or Jerome Thion, Sebastien Chabal, Damien Chouly, Olivier Magne, Mathieu Lievremont, Imanol Harinordoquy or Gregory Lecorvec.
Backs: Nicolas Durand or Dimitri Yachvili, Mathieu Barrau, Benjamin Boyet, Nicolas Laharrague or Maxime Petitjean, David Marty or Romain Cabannes, Ludovic Valbon, Jean-Philippe Grandclaude, Arnaud Mignardi, Pepito Elhorga, Julien Laharrague, Benjamin Thierry, Thomas Castaignede.
- REUTERS