France XV: Montpellier's Lenni Nouchi replaces Argentina among eight unselected players to face the Pumas

Lenni Nouchi va connaître sa première sélection avec le XV de France. Midi Libre – JEAN-MICHEL MART

The third row of the MHR will experience his first selection against Argentina, Saturday July 6, at 9 p.m., like seven other players from the XV of France.

The French XV, largely overhauled with six players without selection, will be led by scrum half Baptiste Serin, appointed captain for the first match of the summer tour in Argentina, Saturday, in Mendoza. Deprived of his senior players, such as Antoine Dupont, Romain Ntamack, Grégory Alldritt or Gaël Fickou, coach Fabien Galthié therefore decided to start six players without selection to challenge the Pumas, semi-finalists of the World Cup.

Pau wingers Théo Attissogbé (19 years old) and Stade français Lester Etien (29 years old) as well as Toulon center Antoine Frisch (28 years old) will honor their first selection. This is also the case for La Rochelle third row Oscar Jégou (21 years old) and Racing 92 Jordan Joseph (23 years old) or Pau second row Hugo Auradou (20 years old). Two "newbies" more could discover the international level if they come off the bench: Lyon second row Mickaël Guillard (23 years old) and Montpellier flanker Lenni Nouchi (20 years old).

A young and inexperienced team

This young (24.5 years on average) and inexperienced (7 caps on average) team will be led by Toulon scrum-half Baptiste Serin (30 years, 44 caps), the most seasoned player of the forty-two players called up for the tour. He had not worn the rooster jersey since a victory against Fiji (34-17), in a preparation match for the World Cup in France, on August 19, 2023. His last start with the French team dates back to November 28, 2020 and a victory over Italy (36-5), during the Autumn Nations Cup.

Also note the great return to Blue of La Rochelle third row Judicaël Cancoriet (28 years old), six years after the last of his four selections, marked by a heavy setback against the All Blacks (52-11) on 9  ;nbsp;June 2018 at the legendary Eden Park. Only La Rochelle pillar George-Henri Colombe (26 years old, 2 selections) and Stade français fullback Léo Barré (21 years old, 2 selections) had played in the last match of the Blues, against England (33-31) in the Six Nations Tournament.

They are joined by other "regulars" gatherings, like the pillar of Racing 92 Demba Bamba (26 years old, 26 selections), the second row of Perpignan Posolo Tuilagi (19 years old, 3 selections), the scrum half of Lyon Baptiste Couilloud (26 years old, 16 selections .) or Toulon fullback Melvyn Jaminet (24 years old, 19 sel), all substitutes.

The other players will meet Uruguay

The players who will play against the Pumas should not play in the next meeting, on July 10 in Montevideo against Uruguay, a friendly match which does not give the right to a selection. The XV of France will then meet the Pumas, on July 13, in Buenos Aires.

Composition of the XV of France against Argentina: Barré – Attissogbe, Gailleton, Frisch, Etien – (o) Hastoy, (m) Serin – Jegou, Joseph, Cancoriet – Pesenti, Auradou – Colombe, Barlot, Big Substitutes: Baubigny, S. Taofifenua, Bamba, Tuilagi, Guillard, Nouchi, Couilloud, Jaminet