France squad: Fabien Galthie boosted by returning stars as rookie one of nine uncapped players in wider group

France head coach Fabien Galthie has received a major boost ahead of his side’s clash with Wales, with Thibaud Flament, Emilien Gailleton and Paul Boudehent back in contention.

The trio all missed their opening 36-14 win over Ireland on Thursday either through injury or unavailability, but are among several changes to the France 42-man squad this week to prepare for their trip to the Principality Stadium.

Elsewhere, Galthie has called in nine uncapped players, with Pau fly-half Axel Desperes earning his first-ever senior call-up in the process.

France name wider 42-man squad for Wales with key men returning

Les Bleus have still kept a good core of the squad from their victory over Ireland together, with the likes of Francois Cros, Georges-Henri Colombe, Peato Mauvaka, Matthieu Jalibert, Antoine Dupont, Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Thomas Ramos all included.

Eddie Jones’ verdict on where France ‘looked pretty ordinary’ as ex-Wallabies boss believes Ireland reverted to being ‘spoilers’

Yoram Moefana has emerged as an injury doubt in the wake of their win over Ireland in Paris, but he has been included in the wider group. Fellow centre Kalvin Gourgues does miss out on the squad, though, with Gailleton taking his spot.

Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for world-class coverage you can trust.

There is still no room for axed trio Gregory Alldritt, Gael Fickou and Damian Penaud in the wider training squad, again suggesting they will miss the entirety of the Six Nations.

Romain Ntamack is also a notable absentee, with the Toulouse fly-half still not fully fit.

France player ratings v Ireland: ‘Magic’ Louis Bielle-Biarrey ‘playing a different game’ but bench nearly squander ‘unloseable position’

France squad in full

Forwards: Dorian Aldegheri, Hugo Auradou, Cyril Baille, Paul Boudehent, Joshua Brennan, Georges-Henri Colombe, François Cros, Alexandre Fischer, Thibaud Flament, Jean-Baptiste Gros, Mickaël Guillard, Oscar Jegou, Anthony Jelonch, Maxime Lamothe, Julien Marchand, Temo Matiu, Peato Mauvaka, Emmanuel Meafou, Régis Montagne, Rodrigue Neti, Lenni Nouchi, Charles Ollivon, Thomas Staniforth, Tevita Tatafu

Backs: Grégoire Arfeuil, Théo Attissogbe, Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Fabien Brau-Boirie, Romain Buros, Thibault Daubagna, Nicolas Depoortere, Axel Desperes, Gaël Drean, Antoine Dupont, Émilien Gailleton, Aaron Grandidier Nkanang, Matthieu Jalibert, Yoram Moefana, Noah Nene, Thomas Ramos, Baptiste Serin, Cheikh Tiberghien

READ MORE: France v Ireland: Five takeaways as ‘marked contrast’ between the 10s sees ‘slow as dial-up’ Sam Prendergast have Test he’ll ‘want to forget’