Toulouse (AFP)

The face of the XV of France for the second part of the autumn tests is emerging.

Coach Fabien Galthié summoned 31 players on Thursday evening to prepare for the duel in Scotland on November 22, with the returning Brice Dulin and fourteen neophytes.

Unsurprisingly, scrum-half Baptiste Serin (38 caps), released in favor of Toulon to gain playing time, appears in this list.

Racing 92 winger Teddy Thomas, forfeited the last match of the Six Nations Tournament against Ireland (35-27) on October 31, is also part of it.

Or the Rochelle winger Arthur Retière, who honored his first selection against the XV du Trèfle at the Stade de France, entering at the end of the match.

The French clubs have agreed to make their internationals available for three match sheets, at most, during the fall.

Six matches are on the menu and the Blues have already played two, against Ireland and previously against Wales (38-21) in preparation.

The duel against Fiji on Sunday in Vannes, as part of the Autumn Nations Cup, will be the third and therefore the last in which coach Fabien Galthié will be able to field his typical team.

He has therefore already anticipated the sequel with a list combining experience and especially a lot of youth.

Among the fourteen players without any selection, a few have however already been mobilized in recent weeks in Marcoussis for training, such as Lyon second line Killian Geraci, Bordeaux third line Cameron Woki, Toulon winger Gabin Villière or even the Toulouse hooker Peato Mauvaka.

- Towards a Serin-Jalibert hinge -

Besides Thomas and Serin, there are also other players on whom Galthié has relied since he has been in command of the blue ship.

The opener Matthieu Jalibert (5 caps) thus participated, as an understudy for Romain Ntamack, in four of the five matches of the 2020 Tournament. However, he did not play any of the first two matches of this fall and will therefore be available for the three meetings after Fiji.

Jalibert is starting with a head start over Toulonnais Louis Carbonel, Galthié having since the start of his mandate favored continuity.

Barring a huge surprise, he should constitute the French hinge in Edinburgh alongside Serin, the most capped of this group in front of the pillar Uini Atonio (32 caps), Dulin (29), Thomas (20) and the third row Yacouba Camara (17 ).

Clermont scrum-half Sébastien Bézy (7 caps), author of an excellent start to the season, has been selected and could thus claim a return in the blue jersey he has been waiting for since the 2016 tour in Argentina, when Serin will have reached the limit of three matches, presumably after Scotland.

La Rochelle full-back Brice Dulin (30), one of the 5 players with more than 10 caps in this list, has not played with the Blues since the tour in South Africa in June 2017.

The Rochelais Atonio, 30, has for his part no longer donned the tricolor tunic in competition since February 1, 2019 and a defeat (24-19) of the French against the Welsh.

This is the opportunity for them to resume service.

© 2020 AFP