Son of ex-Ireland forward one of five France call-ups for All Blacks series as Fabien Galthie overlooks top talents
France and Toulouse full-back Thomas Ramos and an inset of head coach Fabien Galthie.
France have been boosted by the inclusion of five Top 14 stars to their squad ahead of their three-Test series against the All Blacks.
While the agreement between the French Rugby Federation and the LNR meant that several top players would not be allowed to tour during July, a common trend for France, an exception for the tour to New Zealand has been made.
France call-ups
That being that head coach Fabien Galthie has been afforded the opportunity to select five players who featured in the Top 14 final, provided that they have not racked up too many minutes this season.
There were hopes that Bordeaux flyers Damian Penaud and Louis Bielle-Biarrey would crack the nod, but the pair have seemingly exceeded the limit of minutes played, while the same looks to be true for their clubmates Maxime Lucu and Matthieu Jalibert.
Romain Ntamack made it known that he wished to play the All Blacks in New Zealand, but the fly-half required surgery on a niggling injury and went under the knife inside the 24 hours preceding the final.
All Blacks great: The Jordie Barrett flaw that means Rieko Ioane has to be dropped
Thomas Ramos, who is France’s first-choice full-back and kicker, has also not been called up along with a plethora of his Toulouse teammates who are usually regular starters for Les Blues, namely: Francois Cros, Anthony Jelonch, Thibaud Flament, Cyril Baille and Emmanuel Meafou.
Instead, Galthie has selected centre Pierre-Louis Barrassi and lock Joshua Brennan from the three-peat Top 14 champions.
Brennan will be a familiar name for many as he is the son of former Ireland international Trevor Brennan, who also plied his trade at Leinster and Toulouse.
The three remaining players come from Bordeaux as flankers Pierre Bochaton and Bastien Vergnes-Tailler are joined by centre Nicolas Depoortere.
Of the quintet, the two midfielders – Barassi and Depoortere – have played for France previously, with the three forwards in line to make their Test debuts.
The five players are expected to miss the opening Test against the All Blacks but are up for selection for the second and third.
Meanwhile, there has been another change in the squad with Bayonne back Cheik Tiberghien being replaced by Toulon’s Marius Domon.
READ MORE: Conrad Smith weighs into Rieko Ioane debate as All Blacks ‘need world-class players’
