France coach Laurent Frayssinous has named his team to face England on Saturday afternoon at the Stade Gilbert Brutus in Perpignan.
The starting team is made up of 13 players from the Catalans Dragons and Toulouse Olympique, with seven players named as reserves, including Morgan Escaré of Salford Red Devils. It will be captained by Toulouse halfback Tony Gigot.
The team is a young one, and Frayssinous has explained his philosophy in picking his team.
“The group composed to face England is of very good quality, despite the injuries of Théo Fages, Benjamin Garcia, Julian Bousquet, Alrix Da Costa, Gadwin Springer, Rhys Curran, Lucas Albert (for lack of playing time after his injury) and Rémi Casty (who decided to hang up his boots),” said Frayssinous.
“This group combines experience and youth, with ten players in this group who are likely to celebrate their first selection in blue. This Test match against England is the start of our new planning for the 2022 World Cup and I’m confident that we can give the English a go.”
France Team: Mark Kheirallah (Toulouse), Ilias Bergal (Toulouse), Mathieu Jussaume (Toulouse), Matthieu Laguerre (Catalans), Fouad Yaha (Catalans), Arthur Mourgue (Catalans), Tony Gigot (Toulouse), Romain Navarrete (Toulouse), Anthony Marion (Toulouse), Jordan Dezaria (Catalans), Benjamin Jullien (Catalans), Paul Seguier (Catalans), Mickael Goudemand (Catalans); Subs from: Eloi Pelissier, Maxime Puech, Justin Sangare (all Toulouse Olympique), Mathieu Cozza, Corentin Le Cam, Cesar Rouge, (all Catalans Dragons), Morgan Escaré (Salford Red Devils).
