Clermont duo Laurent Emmanuelli and Anthony Floch and Biarritz's Benoit August and Romain Cabannes have all been called up to the national set-up.

Front row forwards August and Emmanuelli, centre Cabannes and full-back Floch have been rewarded by Les Bleus coach Laporte for their hard work in the Heineken Cup and Top 14 competition respectively.

August has plenty of European experience under his belt from Biarritz's run to the Heineken Cup final last season, and he will challenge Raphael Ibanez in the front row.

Elsewhere, there are several more familiar names drafted back into the squad as Laporte attempts to find the best formula to challenge for the Rugby World Cup on their home soil.

The French coach has not let the hard work of Clement Poitrenaud, Nicolas Mas, Jean-Baptiste Poux, Sebastien Chabal and Sebastien Bruno go unnoticed and brings the five players back into the squad after spells out of the international reckoning.

The displays of Chabal and Bruno in Sale's recent Heineken Cup games against Stade Francais proved decisive in earning them recalls.

Fly-half Benjamin Boyet and utility back Thomas Castaignede are currently injured but are still named in the group.

There is no place for in-form Stade Francais fly-half Lionel Beauxis - he loses out to fellow number ten and club colleague David Skrela - while full-backs Julien Laharrague and Pepito Elhorga are dropped after poor showings in the November Tests.

The major absentee is Frederic Michalak, who continues his recovery from knee surgery, meaning Damien Traille is likely to get more time at fly-half.

France squad:

Backs: Jean-Baptiste Elissalde (Toulouse), Pierre Mignoni (Clermont), Dimitri Yachvili (Biarritz), Benjamin Boyet (Bourgoin), David Skrela (Stade Français), Damien Traille (Biarritz), Romain Cabannes (Biarritz), Florian Fritz (Toulouse), Yannick Jauzion (Toulouse), David Marty (Perpignan), Vincent Clerc (Toulouse), Christophe Dominici (Stade Français), Cédric Heymans (Toulouse), Aurélien Rougerie (Clermont), Thomas Castaignède (Saracens/ENG), Anthony Floch (Clermont), Clément Poitrenaud (Toulouse)
 
Forwards: Pieter de Villiers (Stade Français), Laurent Emmanuelli (Clermont), Sylvain Marconnet (Stade Français), Nicolas Mas (Perpignan), Olivier Milloud (Bourgoin), Jean-Baptiste Poux (Toulouse), Benoît August (Biarritz), Sébastien Bruno (Sale/ENG), Raphaël Ibañez (Wasps/ENG), Dimitri Szarzewski (Stade Français), Grégory Lamboley (Toulouse), Lionel Nallet (Castres), Pascal Papé (Castres), Fabien Pelous (Toulouse), Jerome Thion (Biarritz), Serge Betsen (Biarritz), Julien Bonnaire (Bourgoin), Sébastien Chabal (Sale/ENG), Thierry Dusautoir (Toulouse), Imanol Harinordoquy (Biarritz), Rémy Martin (Stade Français), Yannick Nyanga (Toulouse), Elvis Vermeulen (Clermont)