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Leicester scrum-half Julien Dupuy has been called up for the first time to the France squad for June's tour of New Zealand and Australia.

The 25-year-old (pictured0, who joined Leicester this season, was the only newcomer in the 30-man squad named by coach Marc Lievremont.

He was picked at the expense of Dimitri Yachvili, whom he was the second-choice to while both were playing at Biarritz.

"We had a lot of hesitations between Dimitri, who has experience, and Dupuy, who has been impressive and played a crucial role in his team in his last few games. We want to see what he is able to do at the highest level," Lievremont said.

"And he is playing in a very competitive league, with a lot of rhythm."

Leicester were crowned English champions last Saturday and they will play Leinster in the Heineken Cup final next Saturday.

France will play New Zealand in Dunedin on June 13 and in Wellington on June 20. They will then take on Australia in Sydney on June 27.

Squad

Backs: Morgan Parra, Julien Dupuy, Francois Trinh-Duc, David Skrela, Yannick Jauzion, Florian Fritz, Maxime Mermoz, Damien Traille, Mathieu Bastareaud, Vincent Clerc, Cedric Heymans, Aurelien Rougerie, Maxime Medard, Alexis Palisson.

Forwards: Sylvain Marconnet, Thomas Domingo, Fabien Barcella, Nicolas Mas, Dimitri Szarzewski, Guilhem Guirado, William Servat, Lionel Nallet (captain), Romain Millo-Chluski, Pascal Pape, Sebastien Chabal, Imanol Harinordoquy, Thierry Dusautoir, Julien Bonnaire, Fulgence Ouedraogo, Louis Picamoles.

Reuters