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The son of a legend and a giant lock among those named in France's 31-man Six Nations squad
By Peter Hanson
Romain Ntamack is one of five new faces in France's 31-man squad for the upcoming Six Nations.
The 19-year-old, who can play fly-half or centre, was a member of the Les Bleus squad that won the World Rugby Under-20 Championship last year.
Ntamack is joined by Toulouse team-mates Thomas Ramos and Dorian Aldegheri, while La Rochelle number eight Gregory Alldritt and the South-Africa born lock Paul Willemse are also included.
Montpellier powerhouse Willemse (6'7, 136kg) was tipped to have played in the November internationals, but was told he had to wait until he received a French passport.
Ntamack has emerged as a key centrepiece in Toulouse's plans this season, while full-back Ramos beat the likes of Benjamin Fall and Brice Dulin to selection.
Jacques Brunel will hope the injection of fresh blood can rejuvenate a France squad that suffered a historic first defeat to Fiji last November.
Clermont duo Morgan Parra and Wesley Fofana return having missed the November matches due to injury.
The likes of Teddy Thomas, Yoann Maestri and Mathieu Babillot miss out on selection due to injury.
Forwards: Dorian Aldegheri, Gregory Alldritt, Uini Atonio, Demba Bamba, Pierre Bourgarit, Yacouba Camara, Guilhem Guirado, Arthur Iturria, Felix Lambey, Wenceslas Lauret, Bernard Le Roux, Julien Marchand, Louis Picamoles, Jefferson Poirot, Dany Priso, Sebastien Vahaamahina, Paul Willemse
Backs: Mathieu Bastareaud, Anthony Belleau, Geoffrey Doumayrou, Antoine Dupont, Gael Fickou, Wesley Fofana, Yoann Huget, Camille Lopez, Maxime Medard, Romain Ntamack, Morgan Parra, Damian Penaud, Thomas Ramos, Baptiste Serin
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Latest Comments
Larry Brown was 63 when he won the NBA, and Phil Jackson was 64.
I guess my general feeling in rugby is that most coaches seem to decline quite a bit when they hit 60, and to be coaching at the top level when you’re 65 or older is extremely rare. Maybe in american sports people have another 5 years, but that doesn’t seem like a massive difference.
Either way, I’m going to stick with my verdict that appointing Les Kiss at age 60 would be ok as a short term deal - but appointing him at 63 and expecting him to last 4 years would be foolish.
Go to commentsWe come off a loss and a big one to Moana Pasifika and 2 years in a row losing to the Drua. The motivation to reverse that is huge. This competition has been unpredictable. I believe the return of inform players like Antonio Shalfoon , Christian Lio-Willie will make a huge difference.Tom Christie, who played so well in his 2 starts and Corrie Kellow will be raring to go. We missed David Havili, the form second five and captain last week, he thankfully will be back soon. But Codie Taylor is a great choice to captain in the mean time in David’s absence.
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