France have named their squad for their upcoming World Cup fixture against Samoa.
The game is now a must win for both teams has they look to progress to the knockout stage of the tournament.
With both nations beating Greece but losing to hosts England there is no room for error in either camp, with France hoping to upset Samoa who were widely fancied to do well prior to the tournament starting.
France will be without their starting full back Morgan Escare who misses out and will likely mean a reshuffle to their spine which could be cause for concern ahead of the big fixture.
Leeds Rhinos bound prop Justin Sangare is also named and will be tasked with dealing with Samoans monster pack which including Origin stalwarts Junior Paulo and Josh Papalii.
Sangare was incredible off the bench for France in their defeat by England, making defence bending runs and putting in big efforts in defence. He will need to emulate that performance if France are to have any success against the Samoan middles.
France Head Coach Laurent Frayssinous had this to say about his squad ahead of the crucial fixture.
“We had eight days of preparation for Samoa, we had to recover physically from these first two weeks and put in place our strategy against Samoa.
“The players are exemplary in their behavior on and off the pitch and are excited to meet some of the best players in the NRL. We want to measure ourselves against them individually and collectively.
“We are ready to put in a big performance on Sunday afternoon.”
Here is the squad in full:
Le groupe pour le match couperet face aux Samoa, dimanche ! 🇫🇷👇 pic.twitter.com/LEHlae5vbi
— Fédération Française de Rugby XIII (@FFRXIII) October 28, 2022