Standing 6ft 7in tall and weighing-in at 19st 13lbs, the 26-year-old becomes the latest South African to qualify to play for France on residency grounds having spent the past three years at Montpellier. He is one of five uncapped players named in Jacques Brunel’s.
Brunel has included two members of last year’s World Junior Championship winning side, Brive prop Demba Bamba and Toulouse outside half Romain Ntamack. They are joined by forwards Dorian Aldegheri and Gregory Alldriit and full-back Thomas Ramos.
Ntamack is the son of the former France and Toulouse full back-or-wing, Emile, who played seen times against Wales in a 46-cap career that included playing in the 1999 World Cup final at the Millennium Stadium.
Italian director of rugby Conor O’Shea has also named his 31-strong Preliminary squad for the championships and has included the 14-times England Under 20 forward David Sisi in his squad for the first time. The former Bath forward, born in Germany, joined Zebre in 2017.
The Italians are on a run of a record 17 straight Six Nations defeats with their last win in the tournament coming against Scotland at Murrayfield in 2015. They will have the 134-times capped Sergio Parisse back to lead them when they open up against the Scots at Murrayfield on 2 February.
France Squad
Backs: Mathieu Bastareaud (Toulon), Anthony Belleau (Toulon), Geoffrey Doumayrou (La Rochelle), Antoine Dupont (Toulouse), Gael Fickou (Stade Francais Paris), Wesley Fofana (Clermont Auvergne), Yoann Huget (Toulouse), Camille Lopez (Clermont Auvergne), Maxime Medard (Toulouse), Romain Ntamack (Toulouse), Morgan Parra (Clermont Auvergne), Damian Penaud (Clermont Auvergne), Thomas Ramos (Toulouse), Baptiste Serin (Bordeaux-Begles)
Forwards: Dorian Aldegheri (Toulouse), Gregory Alldritt (La Rochelle), Uini Atonio (La Rochelle), Demba Bamba (Brive), Pierre Bourgarit (La Rochelle), Yacouba Camara (Montpellier), Guilhem Guirado (Toulon, captain), Arthur Iturria (Clermont Auvergne), Felix Lambey (Lyon), Wenceslas Lauret (Racomg 92), Bernard Le Roux (Racing 92), Julien Marchand (Toulouse), Louis Picamoles (Montpellier), Jefferson Poirot (Bordeaux-Begles), Dany Priso (La Rochelle), Sebastien Vahaamahina (Clermont Auvergne), Paul Willemse (Montpellier)
Italy Squad
Backs: Guglielmo Palazzani (Zebre), Tito Tebaldi (Benetton Rugby), Tommaso Allan (Benetton Rugby), Carlo Canna (Zebre), Ian McKinley (Benetton Rugby), Giulio Bisegni (Zebre), Michele Campagnaro (Wasps), Tommaso Castello (Zebre), Luca Morisi (Benetton Rugby), Tommaso Benvenuti (Benetton Rugby), Angelo Esposito (Benetton Rugby), Jayden Hayward (Benetton Rugby), Edoardo Padovani (Zebre), Luca Sperandio (Benetton Rugby)
Forwards: Simone Ferrari (Benetton Rugby), Andrea Lovotti (Zebre), Tiziano Pasquali (Benetton Rugby), Cherif Traore (Benetton Rugby), Giosue Zilocchi (Zebre), Luca Bigi (Benetton Rugby), Leonardo Ghiraldini (Toulouse), Dean Budd (Benetton Rugby), Federico Ruzza (Benetton Rugby), David Sisi (Zebre), Alessandro Zanni (Benetton Rugby), Marco Barbini (Benetton Rugby), Maxime Mbanda (Zebre), Sebastian Negri (Benetton Rugby), Sergio Parisse (Stade Francais Paris, captain), Braam Steyn (Benetton Rugby), Jimmy Tuivaiti (Zebre)
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