French coach Marc Lievremont reveals squad to face All Blacks - Rugby World Cup News
Marc Lievremont, the head coach of France, has unveiled his 22-member squad for their upcoming pool clash of the Rugby World Cup 2011 against the All Blacks. France is taking on the hosts New Zealand on September 24, which will be their first real test in
the ongoing global showpiece for they have battled with two meagre sides in their group earlier. Announcing his lineup for the All Blacks clash, Lievremont told the media on September 19 he is expecting the best of the All Blacks side to compete with on Saturday.
France won its first contest of the current tournament against Japan by a comprehensive margin of 47-21 on September 10. They sealed a similar victory of 46-19 against Canada last weekend. Lievremont has made a surprise decision at the two scrum-half positions
for this match. Morgan Parra and Dimitri, who normally play at the same position, are expected to be lined up on the big day.
Lievremont, who is famous for making strange decisions, has surprised the critics with another notable change in his side. Regular fly-half, François Trinh-Duc, has been given a bench role for this important game despite the fact he had played both the games
as a first choice player. William Servat will also start the much anticipated game against the All Blacks on bench as regular full-back Damien Traille is making his first appearance in the French side since the start of RWC.
Talking about the crucial changes made to encounter the All Blacks, French coach said that, “I thought about this long into the night, especially the decision about the half-backs, which wasn't an easy one. Francois Trinh-Duc is paying the price a bit for
the last two games, and Morgan has done very well when he's played.”
Lievremont further said that, “There will be competition for places, perhaps there hasn't been enough of that for Francois.”
France will go with following players against the strong All Blacks:
France 15 Damien Traille, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Aurélien Rougerie, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Maxime Médard, 10 Morgan Parra, 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 5 Pascale Papé, 4 Lionel Nallet, 3
Luc Ducalcon, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Jean-Baptiste Poux.
Replacements: 16 William Servat, 17 Fabien Barcella, 18 Julien Pierre, 19 Imanol Harinordoquy, 20 Francois Trinh-Duc, 21 Fabrice Estebanez, 22 Cédric Heymans
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