Injury-hit France name June squad
Injuries and a club-versus-country clash will work against France, whose squad to face the All Blacks in June has been unveiled.
Coach Jacques Brunel has been forced to omit a number of first-choice players with injury from his squad of 32 for the three-Test series in New Zealand.
He will also be without a handful of players in the leadup to the first Test at Eden on June 9.
Those players will contest the Top 14 final on June 2 before joining their international team-mates midweek in Auckland.
Brunel chose not to select regular skipper Guilhem Guirado and Wenceslas Lauret, who are in need of a rest, he said.
Filling a hooker berth in Guirado's absence is the only uncapped tourist, 20-year-old Pierre Bourgarit.
The backline has been hit especially hard by injury, with outside backs Yoann Huget and Brice Dulin unavailable, along with halves Lionel Beauxis, Camille Lopez, Francois Trinh-Duc and Maxime Machenaud all unavailable.
From the pack, Louis Picamoles and Virimi Vakatawa are awaiting surgery while Jefferson Poirot and Sebastien Vahaamahina are suspended.
On the positive side, Wesley Fofana, Maxime Medard and Morgan Parra are all backline options again after significant time away from Test rugby.
A tour skipper has yet to be named, although reports suggest it will be blockbusting midfield back Mathieu Bastareaud, which would complete a remarkable redemption story.
In 2009, Bastareaud attracted international headlines when he falsified an account of an assault while in New Zealand with the French side.
He later retracted the claims and admitted he had been drunk and had sustained the injuries in his hotel room. He said he had panicked and concocted the story to avoid getting in trouble with team management.
SQUAD
France to face New Zealand
Uini Atonio
Mathieu Babillot
Cyril Baille
Mathieu Bastareaud
Anthony Belleau
Eddy Ben Arous
Hugo Bonneval
Pierre Bougarit
Camille Chat
Geoffrey Doumayroum
Benjamin Fall
Gael Fickou
Wesley Fofana
Paul Gabrillagues
Kelian Galletier
Cedate Gomes Sa
Kevin Gourdon
Remy Grosso
Felix Lambey
Remi Lamerat
Alexandre Lapandry
Bernard Le Roux
Yoann Maestri
Maxime Medard
Morgan Parra
Adrien Pelissie
Jules Plisson
Dany Priso
Fabien Sanconnie
Baptiste Serin
Rabah Slimani
Teddy Thomas
