France coach John Monie has announced his squad for Friday's international against England with 10 Catalans Dragons players named.
Super League high-flyers dominate numbers
France coach John Monie has announced his squad for Friday's international against England with 10 Catalans Dragons players among the 18 named.
The squad also includes a trio of former Catalans players in Adel Fellous, who is currently on loan at Widnes, Harlequins hooker/half-back Julien Rinaldi and centre Teddy Saddaoui, who now plays for Carcassonne.
Albi second rower Eric Anselme, who is on loan with Leeds, has also been included, with Australian full-back Trent Clayton qualifying through residency rules.
Catalans' former Wigan and Warrington prop Jerome Guisset will captain the side after passing a fitness test on the thigh strain that ruled him out of the Dragons' 52-14 win over Warrington at the weekend.
There are eight survivors from the side that lost 42-14 to Great Britain at Leeds last June, with half-backs Maxime Greseque and Christophe Moly missing out because of injury, alongside with Jarred Taylor, David Ferriol and Dimitri Pelo.
Prime form
Despite the number of Catalans players named, team manager Gilles Dumas said the French team would not be relying solely on their Super League contingent.
"The players coming from Catalans Dragons, Leeds and Harlequins are in the middle of their season so they are in prime form," he said.
"As for the players from the Elite clubs, since the end of their championship and looking ahead to Friday's game, they have followed a specific programme to keep themselves at the same level as their team-mates."
France squad (Catalans Dragons unless stated): Eric Anselme (Leeds), Thomas Bosc, Laurent Carrasco (Toulouse), Remy Casty, Trent Clayton (Toulouse), Vincent Duport, Olivier Elima, Jamal Fakir, Adel Fellous (Widnes), Jerome Guisset, Younes Khattabi, Gregory Mounis, Sebastien Raguin, Julien Rinaldi (Harlequins), Pierre Sabatie (Villeneuve), Teddy Saddaoui (Carcassonne), Cyril Staccul, James Wynne (Lezignan).
