French fly half François Trinh-Duc disappointed at not getting a start in match against Tonga
Les Bleus international fly half Trinh-Duc expresses his disappointment after being left out of France’s starting line-up for their last pool match encounter of the 2011 Rugby World Cup (RWC) against Tonga. Trinh – Duc made these comments while talking to L'Equipe on Thursday September 29.
France will play their last match of pool A against Tonga at Westpac Stadium, Wellington on Saturday, October 1.
Earlier this week, France’s national team head coach, Marc Lievremont, announced Les Bleus match-day 22 for their Tongan encounter on Monday, September 26.
Trinh – Duc will start the match from the bench, as Lievremont sticks with his half pair combination of Morgan Parra and Dimitri Yachvili. Speaking about the move, he said, “I was very disappointed and astonished. When you're playing in a World Cup it's to be in the first team every match.”
Trinh – Duc further added even more painful was that he is left out of the starting lineup in their most crucial games of the tournament. Tonga requires a bonus point win to deny France from their spot in the quarter-finals of the 2011 RWC. Earlier, he was also left out of the France’s encounter against All Blacks.
Trinh – Duc added that in their last game against the All Blacks he gave his best performance on the field, after coming from the bench. He said, “I tried to give everything I had against the All Blacks, to show that I was raging and that I was still around.” He admitted that being left out of the starting xv is very tough for him.
Les Bleus match day squad for their upcoming encounter against Tonga consists of:
Starting XV: Maxime Medard; Vincent Clerc, Aurelien Rougerie, Maxime Mermoz, Alexis Palisson; Morgan Parra, Dimitri Yachvili; Jean-Baptiste Poux, William Servat, Luc Ducalcon; Pascal Pape, Lionel Nallet; Thierry Dusautoir (capt), Julien Bonnaire, Raphael Lakafia.
Replacements: Dimitri Szarzewski, Fabien Barcella, Julien Pierre, Imanol Harinordoquy, Francois Trinh-Duc, Fabrice Estebanez, Cedric Heymans
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