A French Fancy

Phillipe Saint-Andre released the details of his French 30-man 6 Nations squad today, and it makes for interesting reading.

Firstly, there are only two uncapped players included - the Clermont centre Wesley Fofana, who has been in sparkling form this season so far, and of the games I have seen him in during the Heinekin Cup, looks to be a potent threat.  He would have to be, because he's kept Toulouse man Florien Fritz and resurgent Toulon man Mathieu Basteraud out of the offing.  The other is Toulouse lock Yoann Maestri who looks to be another in a long line of quality second rowers from France.

Fofana has been outstanding so far this season

However, the most striking thing that immediately stands out to me is the fact that the squad is comprised entirely of France-based players.  Not such a surprise perhaps, France has always been quite insular with it's homegrown talent, and with the money that is swirling around the Top 14 clubs, why would they want to leave?  But the 30 strong squad represents 8 different clubs in the domestic league.

The largest investment of players, predictably, comes from Toulouse where 12 players have made Saint-Andre's cut.  Clermont are second with 7, but the rest are fairly evenly split between Biarritz, Castres, Perpignan, Montpellier, Stade Francais and Toulon.

Looking more closely at those that have made the squad, it's clear to see that the clubs providing just 1 or 2 players are hardly making up the numbers - they are providing quality players.  Take Montpellier where Francois Trinh-Duc and flanker Fulgence Ouedraogo are likely starters for the French.  Biarritz are the same with Fabien Barcella and Imanol Harinordoquy.

What is great about the French Top 14 is that the quality of players are spread across such a large number of teams.  There are some that do things differently, like Toulon, who have invested heavily in foreign imports but generally speaking, French rugby talent is very well taken care of, and with the spread of that talent, there are plenty of opportunities for players to play rugby at the highest level.

Saint-Andre's selection looks ominously strong, and efficient.  30 men is 6 less than what Scottish coach Andy Robinson has picked for Scotland.  If the new French coach is as ruthless with his tactics as he is with his selection, we should all be watching out.