Stade Francais saw their surging Top 14 form rewarded when a trio of uncapped players were on Monday called up for France’s Six Nations squad, notably fly half Jules Plisson ahead of the experienced Francois Trinh-Duc and Frederic Michalak.
Coach Philippe Saint-Andre also handed call-ups to storming blindside flanker Antoine Burban and fullback Hugo Bonneval, while Castres fullback Geoffrey Palis is included in a national squad for the first time.
Plisson, 22, has been at the playmaking heart of Stade Francais’ surge to second in the highly competitive Top 14, even up against the skills and kicking ability of teammate Morne Steyn, the current Springbok fly half.
In the absence of the injured Camille Lopez, Plisson was preferred by Saint-Andre to Michalak, who has played only once for Toulon since the end of November, and Montpellier’s Trinh-Duc, who can count himself unlucky to miss out.
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Although previous coach Marc Lievremont’s preferred starting No 10, Trinh-Duc is not a favourite with Saint-Andre, having played only a total of 85 minutes last year in five matches in a variety of positions.