Mathieu Bastareaud will not be part of this year’s Rugby World Cup after the Toulon centre was left out of France’s 37-man squad on Tuesday.
Bastareaud, who was vice-captain for Les Bleus during a disappointing Six Nations campaign, did not feature in the squad list of 31 or among the six standby players who will start preparation for the tournament from June 25.
Alongside Bastareaud, experienced scrum-half Morgan Parra, wing Teddy Thomas and prop Uini Atonio were surprisingly left out of the squad selected by coach Jacques Brunel and assistant Fabien Galthie.
After the World Cup Galthie will take over as head coach from Brunel, who has endured a difficult time in charge winning just five out of 16 games during his tenure.
Bastareaud appears to have paid the price for France’s poor Six Nations campaign in which they lost to Wales, England and Ireland and finished fourth in the standings.
The 30-year-old made his debut in 2009 and has amassed 54 caps, recently stepping in as captain in the absence of Guilhem Guirado.
Bastareaud announced in April that he will join new Major League Rugby franchise Rugby United New York on a season-long loan before returning to Toulon for the 2020-21 season.
The World Cup will be held from Sept. 20-Nov. 2 in Japan.