Frédéric Michalak has pledged to do all he can to return to the France squad after being told he will not feature in the forthcoming Six Nations Championship.
France head coach Marc Lièvremont does not believe Michalak, who is back at Toulouse after a year in South Africa with the Sharks, is at the right level to merit a return to the national team, and will look at other fly-halves for the Six Nations.
Michalak, who won the last of his 50 caps in the World Cup third-place play-off defeat by Argentina in October 2007, says he will try to improve for Toulouse in an attempt to win Lièvremont over.
"I am always disappointed not to play for the national team," he told L'Equipe. "But, as always, I'm saying to myself I must continue to work hard and challenge myself to get back into that squad."
Michalak was disappointing for Toulouse in their 33-26 defeat to Glasgow in the Heineken Cup, when a good performance may have convinced Lièvremont to give him another chance. But Michalak believes his sojourn to South Africa has made him a better player and he hopes to show this once he has settled back at the French champions, where he started his career in 2000.
"Since I returned to Toulouse, I have tried to become more of a team player and to use my team-mates more - at one time, people had a go at me for keeping hold of the ball too much. I am trying to give my all here and it hasn't been too bad. I am trying to reintegrate. I left a year ago and I have to get back into the swing of things on and off the pitch."
Lièvremont has even suggested Michalak's best position could be at scrum-half, and he has not discounted using the 26-year-old there in future. "With Toulouse, I have played several times at nine and I will do it again," Michalak said. "If the national-team coach wants me to play there, I will do it."
Toulouse wing Vincent Clerc, who recently resumed playing after nine months out to nurse ruptured knee ligaments, was not recalled. No uncapped players were included and Lièvremont will later this month name his 23-man squad to face Ireland in France's opening match on Feb. 7 in Dublin.
Squad:
Forwards: Nicolas Mas, Lionel Faure, Benoit Lecouls, Fabien Barcella, Guilhem Guirado, Dimitri Szarzewski, Benjamin Kayser, Sebastien Chabal, Lionel Nallet, Jerome Thion, Romain Millo-Chluski, Julien Bonnaire, Thierry Dusautoir, Fulgence Ouedraogo, Louis Picamoles, Damien Chouly.
Backs: Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, Sebastien Tillous-Borde, Morgan Parra, Lionel Beauxis, Yannick Jauzion, Benoit Baby, Florian Fritz, Aurelien Rougerie, Julien Malzieu, Cedric Heymans, Maxime Mermoz, Clement Poitrenaud, Alexis Palisson, Maxime Medard.