France, under the leadership of newly appointed head coach Philippe Saint-André, endured a mixed 2012 Six Nations Championship (ending 4th with 2 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses) which was the last outing of several key figures of the squad with the likes of Julien Bonnaire, Imanol Harinordoquy, Lionel Nallet, Jean-Baptiste Poux, Aurélien Rougerie, William Servat and Dimitri Yachvili playing their last games in the France jersey while only a couple of players (Wesley Fofana and Yoann Maestri) received their first caps. The Summer tour of Argentina then marked the rise of new players like Brice Dulin, Maxime Machenaud, Fofana and Maestri and saw the return in the mix of Thomas Domingo (who had missed on the World Cup due to injury), Yoann Huget (who had missed on the World Cup due to suspension) and Frédéric Michalak (back from his stint in Super Rugby after having fallen out of favour of French rugby) while experienced players like Vincent Clerc and Thierry Dusautoir were rested, the captaincy being handed to Pascal Papé. The Series was drawn 1-1. France then ended 2012 on a high with three straight wins in the Autumn Internationals over Australia, Argentina and Samoa, claiming the fourth spot in the IRB World Rankings which gave them First Seed status for the 2015 Rugby World Cup draw thus avoiding New Zealand, Australia and South Africa at pool stage. However the 2013 Six Nations Championship was a real disappointment as France ended up bottom of the table, claiming only one win and a draw with a squad that had not much evolved since the previous Summer - Antonie Claassen, Gaël Fickou, Jocelino Suta and Sébastien Vahaamahina being the only new caps while long-time absentees Mathieu Bastareaud and Yannick Nyanga were recalled. Philippe Saint-André stated that the Top 14 final being played just one week prior to the first test, players taking part in this final and thus joining the squad late would not feature in the first test.