South African-born trio Rory Kockott, Bernard le Roux and Scott Spedding have been named in France's 36-man training squad for the World Cup.
Kockott has enjoyed mixed success since making his debut during the June Tests last year. After struggling to win over the French supporters and coach Phillipe Saint-André, he was dropped from the match-day squad for the Six Nations Test against Wales.
However, injuries gave him a reprieve and he featured in the final two matches of the competition against Italy and England.
He is one of three scrumhalves in the squad, which will be trimmed to 31 in August ahead of the World Cup. Toulon's Sebastien Tillous-Borde and Clermont's Morgan Parra have also received the nod, although Racing Métro's Maxime Machenaud missed out on selection.
Other notable absentees include Machenaud's Racing Métro teammate Teddy Thomas, Toulouse's Maxime Medard, and Toulon trio Maxime Mermoz, Alexandre Menini and Romain Taofifenua.
France squad – Uini Atonio (La Rochelle), Eddy Ben Arous (Racing Métro), Xavier Chiocci (Toulon), Vincent Debaty (Clermont), Nicolas Mas (Montpellier), Rabah Slimani (Stade Français), Guilhem Guirado (Toulon), Benjamin Kayser (Clermont), Dimitri Szarzewski (Racing Métro), Alexandre Flanquart (Stade Français), Yoann Maestri (Toulouse), Pascal Papé (Stade Français), Sebastien Vahaamahina (Clermont), Thierry Dusautoir (Toulouse), Bernard le Roux (Racing Métro), Yannick Nyanga (Toulouse), Fulgence Ouedraogo (Montpellier), Damien Chouly (Clermont), Loann Goujon (La Rochelle), Louis Picamoles (Toulouse), Rory Kockott (Castres), Morgan Parra (Clermont), Sébastien Tillous-Borde (Toulon), Frédéric Michalak (Toulon), Rémi Talès (Castres), François Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), Mathieu Bastareaud (Toulon), Alexandre Dumoulin (Racing Métro), Gaël Fickou (Toulouse), Wesley Fofana (Clermont), Remi Lamerat (Castres), Brice Dulin (Racing Métro), Sofiane Guitoune (Bordeaux-Begles), Yoann Huget (Toulouse), Noa Nakaitaci (Clermont), Scott Spedding (Bayonne).
Photo: Jean Catuffe/Getty Images
