Guirado named France captain

PARIS (Reuters) - Hook Guilhem Guirado has been named captain of the France rugby team, new coach Guy Noves said on Monday. "I made it official at the end of the afternoon. He is the right person at the right time. I discussed it with him on Sunday," Noves was quoted as saying by sports daily L'Equipe's website (www.lequipe.fr). Noves was appointed after the 2015 World Cup, where France were knocked out by eventual champions New Zealand in the quarter-finals. The 29-year-old Guirado, who succeeds Thierry Dusautoir after the flanker ended his international career following the World Cup, has been playing for Toulon since 2014 after starting his professional career at Perpignan in 2006. He won the first of his 38 caps against Italy in 2008. (Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Alan Baldwin)