The Quins Hooker, who made 29 appearances for the club in 2007 including Challenge Cup games, is no new comer to international Rugby League. He has over 30 test caps against his name and captained France in both 2004 and 2005.

Rinaldi is delighted to be leading his country this year saying:

'It's a big honour to be given the captaincy and I am really happy to be in this position in our final year before the World Cup. This is a very important international season for France. We've only got four games left to play before we arrive in Australia for the World Cup so we really need to fine tune things now.'

Rinaldi added: 'I am really looking forward to the upcoming games and doing my best to motivate the guys and help the team finish with as many wins as possible. There is a great ambience amongst the group and I am proud to be a part of it.'

Harlequins RL Head Coach Brian McDermott is equally delighted with his French star's appointment saying: 'We are all really pleased and immensely proud that Julien has been named Captain of France.'

'We wish him all the best and are looking forward to working with him again next year.'

The announcement was made by John Monie, the former London Broncos and now French side Coach, from the squad's camp at Tignes in the French Alps.

France's first game will be played against Scotland in Perpignan on October 27, followed by two games against Papua New Guinea on November 3 at Avignon and November 10 at Bordeaux with the final game to be played against the Kiwis in Paris on November 17.


France's 2007 International Fixture List:

• Saturday October 27 ' France v Scotland - Perpignan
• 
  
• Saturday November 3 ' France v Papua New Guinea - Avignon
• 
  
• Saturday November 10 ' France v Papua New Guinea - Bordeaux
• 
  
• Saturday November 17 ' France v New Zealand ' Paris

France's 20 man squad for Scotland:

David Ferriol (Catalans Dragons), Adel Fellous (Catalans Dragons), Jean-Christophe Borlin (St Gaudens), Rémi Casty (Catalans Dragons), Mathieu Griffi (Catalans Dragons), Julien Rinaldi (Harlequins RL), Olivier Elima (Catalans Dragons), Eric Anselme (Albi), Cyril Gossard (Catalans Dragons), Laurent Carrasco (Villeneuve), Sébastien Raguin (Catalans Dragons), James Wynne (Lézignan), Christophe Moly (AS Carcassonne), Maxime Grésèque (Pia), Teddy Sadaoui (AS Carcassonne), Cyril Stacul (Catalans Dragons), Sylvain Houlès (Toulouse), Sébastien Planas (Toulouse), Frédéric Vaccari (Toulouse), Thomas Bosc (Catalans Dragons)