KEY POINTS:
First five-eighth Frederic Michalak and lock Fabien Pelous got recalls today as France named a 22-man squad to face England in Saturday's rugby World Cup warm-up game at Twickenham.
Michalak has not played for France since a 21-16 Six Nations defeat of Wales in March 2006 and Pelous has not featured since sustaining a rib during a 47-3 rout by New Zealand last November.
"It is time to give them a boost," manager Jo Maso said.
If he plays against world champions England, Pelous will equal Philippe Sella's French record of 111 caps.
Michalak, if selected, will line up alongside halfback Jean-Baptiste Elissalde.
"Thay have the advantage of knowing each other very well as they have been playing together in Toulouse," Maso said.
"Frederic brings creativity."
However, Maso did not rule out fielding the pairing of David Skrela and Pierre Mignoni.
"They had a good Six Nations tournament together," he said.
Maso added coach Bernard Laporte already had an idea of who would be number nine and number 10 for the World Cup opening game against Argentina on September 7.
After Saturday's game, France will take on England again on August 18 in Marseille before facing Wales in Cardiff six days later.
"We have decided that everybody would take part in these three matches. We go to Twickenham to asses our form. We have to be in place as soon as possible. But the most important is to be ready on September 7," said Maso.
FRENCH SQUAD
Backs: Clement Poitrenaud; Aurelien Rougerie, Cedric Heymans, Vincent Clerc, David Marty, Yannick Jauzion, David Skrela, Frederic Michalak, Pierre Mignoni, Jean-Baptiste Elissalde.
Forwards: Remy Martin, Yannick Nyanga, Serge Betsen, Julien Bonnaire, Sebastien Chabal, Jerome Thion, Fabien Pelous, Dimitri Szarzewski, Raphael Ibanez, Jean-Baptiste Poux, Pieter De Villiers, Olivier Milloud.
- REUTERS
