Former Junior Boks captain included in France's Nations Championship squad

Stade Francais’ South African-born centre Jeremy Ward is one of the surprise names in Fabien Galthié’s 42-man Nations Championship squad.

According to L’Equipe, the uncapped Ward, who captained the Junior Boks in 2016, will not be eligible to play for Les Bleus on residency grounds until next year, but will attend training camps in preparation for making his Test debut in 2027.

The 30-year-old, who moved to France in 2022, has been preferred to Nicolas Depoortère, seven years his junior.

Ward’s midfield companion at Stade, Tani Vili, is another of the Test rookies in a squad which sees the return of former captain Grégory Alldritt and record try scorer Damian Penaud.

135kg prop Karl Sorin (La Rochelle) and flanker Esteban Capilla (Bayonne) are new additions to the forwards, while backs Théo Forner (Perpignan), utility back Axel Desperes (Pau), full-back Mathis Ferte (Toulon) are also in line for debuts.

France are set to face Fiji at the Groupama Stadium in Lyon and then South Africa and Argentina at the Stade de France on consecutive Saturdays next month (7-21 November).

Matthieu Jalibert, Thomas Ramos, Julien Marchand, Emmanuel Meafou, Thibaud Flament, Demba Bamba and Lenni Nouchi are among a clutch of senior internationals ruled out through injury.

France’s Nations Championship squad for November:

Forwards: Grégory Alldritt, Hugo Auradou, Paul Boudehent, Joshua Brennan, Esteban Capilla, Guillaume Cramont, François Cros, Tyler Duguid, Sipili Falatea, Alexandre Fischer, Marko Gazzotti, Jean-Baptiste Gros, Mickaël Guillard, Oscar Jegou, Maxime Lamothe, Peato Mauvaka, Charles Ollivon, Jefferson Poirot, Karl Sorin, Thomas Staniforth, Tevita Tatafu, Reda Wardi, Cameron Woki.

Backs: Théo Attissogbe, Léo Barré, Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Fabien Brau-Boirie, Axel Desperes, Antoine Dupont, Mathis Ferté, Théo Forner, Émilien Gailleton, Kalvin Gourgues, Aaron Grandidier Nkanang, Antoine Hastoy, Nolann Le Garrec, Maxime Lucu, Yoram Moefana, Romain Ntamack, Damian Penaud, Tani Vili, Jeremy Ward.