Philippe Saint Andre has named his 23-man squad to take on England in the opening round of the Six Nations in Paris next week.
Antoine Burban and Bernard Le Roux are amongst the flankers and could battle it out to start in the place of the injured Thierry Dusautoir.
The former Sale boss revealed at the tournament launch in London today that he is expecting a tough battle up front so he has named 14 forwards in his squad to have a 7-2 split on the bench.
France squad
Forwards: Thomas Domingo (Clermont), Yannick Forestier (Castres), Benjamin Kayser (Clermont), Dimitri Szarzewski (Racing-Métro), Nicolas Mas (Montpellier), Rabah Slimani (Stade Français), Alexandre Flanquart (Stade Français), Yoann Maestri (Toulouse), Pascal Papé (Stade Français, Capt.), Bernard Le Roux (Racing-Métro), Antoine Burban (Stade Français), Yannick Nyanga (Toulouse), Damien Chouly (Clermont), Louis Picamoles (Toulouse).
Backs: Jean-Marc Doussain (Toulouse), Maxime Machenaud (Racing-Métro), Rémi Talès (Castres), Mathieu Bastareaud (Toulon), Gaël Fickou (Toulouse), Wesley Fofana (Clermont), Yoann Huget (Toulouse), Maxime Médard (Toulouse), Brice Dulin (Castres).