France have named Papua New Guinea-born and Toulouse winger Kuni Minga in an initial 32-man squad to prepare for the 2017 World Cup.
The 24-year-old centre or winger qualifies on residency grounds, having spent the last three seasons with Olympique, making an impressive name for himself along the way with plenty of tries for the French side.
Minga is one of five Toulouse players in the squad, with Bastien Ader, Clement Boyer, Bastien Canet and Stan Robin also included for the upcoming training camp in Le Barcares on July 26 and 27.
Also named are London Broncos duo William Barthau and John Boudebza while 17 of the 32 ply their trade in Super League, including 10 from Catalans Dragons, whose new head coach Steve McNamara has already pledged his support to Cologni.
“I met Aurelien who has explained his plans for the international team and his requirements,” said McNamara, who was head coach of England from 2010-15 and briefly assistant with New Zealand before taking up his new role in Perpignan.
“He’s spoken about the help and assistance he needs from the Catalans Dragons and – being a previous international coach – I understand the difficulties in that job.
“We’ll try and provide as much assistance as we can but obviously I’ll be trying to protect our own situation at the same time. It’s about co-operation between the two parties to try to find the balance.”
France squad: B Ader (Toulouse), O Arnaud (Avignon), J Baitieri (Catalans Dragons), W Barthau (London Broncos), G Bonnet (Lezignan), J Boudebza (London Broncos), J Bousquet (Catalans Dragons), C Boyer (Toulouse), W Buche (Lezignan), B Canet (Toulouse), D Cardace (Lezignan), R Casty (Catalans Dragons), V Duport (Catalans Dragons), T Fages (St Helens), S Robin (Toulouse), B Garcia (Catalans Dragons), T Gigot (Catalans Dragons), M Herold (Limoux), B Jullien (Warrington), K Larroyer (Castleford), T Margalet (Catalans Dragons), R Marginet (Sheffield), A Maria (Leigh), H Miloudi (Carcassonne), K Minga (Toulouse), R Navarette (Wigan), E Pelissier (Leigh), A Romano (Catalans Dragons), M Rouch (Limoux), M Simon (Catalans Dragons), G Springer (Castleford), F Yaha (Catalans Dragons).
