French head coach Marc Lievremont has added Toulouse players Clément Poitrenaud and Romain Millo-Chluski to his squad for the crunch Six Nations with England on Saturday 23 February at Stade de France.
The two Heineken Cup quarter-finalists with southern club are also joined by Pascal Papé (Stade Français) as the latest recruits to the new look French squad.
Toulouse lock Millo-Chluski makes his return to international action after a three year gap since his first and only cap with France against South Africa in 2005. In the same year the 25 year old won a Heineken Cup medal in Toulouse's victory over Stade Français in Murrayfield.
Gloucester also received a boost with the news that captain Marco Bortolami has been included in Nick Mallet's Italian squad ahead of their game against Wales. The Italian lock has missed the opening two Six Nations fixtures and now looks set to take the field in Cardiff for Round 3. The influential forward should be fit for Gloucester's European showdown with Munster on Saturday, 5 April at Kingsholm at 5.30 pm.
Munster fans will welcome the return of lock Paul O'Connel who should feature in the Magners League fixture against Edinburgh this weekend. O'Connel has missed all six Heineken Cup Pool games this season and Ireland's Six Nations matches due to a back injury and now looks set to make a return to international duty in the coming weeks.
However, Ireland and Munster have lost hooker Jerry Flannery with a broken hand and the 2006 Heineken Cup medal winner could now be a doubt for the clash with Gloucester in the quarter-finals.
