Rory Kockott might be the first victim of Blanco’s radical new changes.

Serge Blanco is ready to start a radical overhaul of the French squad according to reports, starting by blocking the call-up of Rory Kockott.

The former France full-back and vice-president of the FFR is set to take a more hands-on role with the national team to support Philippe Saint-André and his struggling side.

The first signs of his influence have become apparent with reports in Le Figaro that Blanco is against a call-up of South African-born Kockott, who was expected to earn an international opportunity this November when he became eligible for France.

Planet Rugby

While Kockott would be far from the first import to play for Les Bleus – Antonie Claassen and Bernard Le Roux are both in the protected French squad – he would be the first scrum-half, arguably the most important position in French rugby.

And Blanco appears far from convinced that selecting Kockott would be the solution to the current run of poor results.

“It would be serious to wait for one player like that,” he said. “I’m much more interested in our style of play.”

Kockott is not the only player who could find himself out in the cold, with Frédéric Michalak’s position coming under threat unless he can establish himself as a first team regular at Toulon.

Blanco did not hold back in his view on players who aren’t first choice for their clubs, and Michalak’s absence could open the door for Trinh-Duc, who is reportedly a lot more popular with Blanco than backs coach Patrice Lagisquet.

“If a player chooses to play in a club where he is guaranteed to play [it’s a problem]. We don’t want players who only come on for the last ten minutes anymore.”

And in other French related news France boss Philippe Saint-André has hit out at the “know-it-alls” in French rugby as he begins preparation for the November Tests.

French coach Philippe Saint-André

The French coach has faced heavy criticism for the disappointing results of Les Bleus during his tenure, most recently during the 3-0 series whitewash in Australia.

And the big news in the French national set-up this summer was former full-back Serge Blanco’s move into a new role which will see him work more closely with the French team, although it remains to be seen exactly what his new position will entail.

But despite Blanco’s arrival, Saint-André remains defiant, especially with regards to those who have criticised his tenure.

“Serge Blanco is part of the FFR and takes care of the relationship between the league and the federation,” said Saint-André.

“He was in Marcoussis for a management committee so we had a coffee together.”

“We’ll go into more detail in the next few weeks.”

“In French rugby there are a lot of know-it-alls, but a World Cup year is different. The players will be have lots of time to prepare.”

“We’ll announce a list of 31 players at the start of September.”

“We’ve been meeting with Yannick Bru and Patrice Lagisquet to prepare this season and the November Tests against Fiji, Australia and Argentina.”

“We know that the French players always raise their game for the November Tests.”

“Then we have the Six Nations which is always important before the preparation for the World Cup where the players should have two and a half months to get ready.”