Marc Lièvremont presents 32-member provisional French squad for 2011 Rugby World Cup
After Ireland and Scotland, France has announced their 32-member provisional squad for the 2011 Rugby World Cup on May 12.
France’s head coach, Marc Lièvremont, announced the provisional squad that included many surprises. Marc Lièvremont has left out several seasoned and experienced players and included several injured players in the roster.
In another interesting development, other teams have announced a comparatively larger squad as compared to France. The move has a potential to have a negative impact on the French Rugby World Cup preparations.
Marc Lièvremont has left out the experienced trio of Yannick Jauzion, Clement Poitrenaud and Sebastian Chabal. Commenting on Chabal’s exclusion, Lièvremont has said, “Chabal, who has 62 caps, had been dropped for ‘purely sporting’ criteria and not because
of his recent criticism of referees.”
The squad also has three injured players including Clermont Auvergne captain Aurelien Rougerie, Fabien Barcella and Thomas Domingo. Rougerie sustained a serious ankle injury last weekend while Fabien Barcella and Thomas Domingo
are suffering from Achilles and knee injuries respectively.
Stade Francais hooker Dimitri Szarzewski and Perpignan centre Maxime Mermoz are included in the French provisional squad even though they sustained shoulder and Achilles problems.
French national rugby union team coach has backed the inclusion of Louis Picamoles and the uncapped 22-year-old number eight Raphael Lakafia from Biarritz in the squad. He said, "I think it is interesting to count on these two players with strong potential,"
Lievremont is optimistic that the players will recover well in time and join the team in the preparations for the World Cup. After their training sessions and practice games, teams have to submit their final squad of 30 by August
22, 2011.
Provisional France Rugby World Cup squad:
Forwards - William Servat (Toulouse), Dimitri Szarzewski (Stade Français), Fabien Barcella (Biarritz), Thomas Domingo (Clermont), Jean-Baptiste Poux (Toulouse), Luc Ducalcon (Castres), Nicolas Mas (Perpignan), Sylvain Marconnet
(Biarritz), Pascal Papé (Stade Français), Julien Pierre (Clermont), Romain Millo-Chluski (Toulouse), Lionel Nallet (Racing-Métro 92), Julien Bonnaire (Clermont), Imanol Harinordoquy (Biarritz), Thierry Dusautoir (Toulouse/Cap), Fulgence Ouedraogo (Montpellier),
Raphaël Lakafia (Biarritz), Louis Picamoles (Toulouse)
Backs - Morgan Parra (Clermont), Dimitri Yachvili (Biarritz), David Skrela (Toulouse), François Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), Fabrice Estebanez (Brive), Maxime Mermoz (Perpignan), David Marty (Perpignan), Aurélien Rougerie (Clermont), Maxime Médard (Toulouse),
Alexis Palisson (Brive), Vincent Clerc (Toulouse), Yoann Huget (Bayonne), Cédric Heymans (Toulouse), Damien Traille (Biarritz)
New Zealand will be hosting the 2011 Rugby World Cup and the mega event will start in September with the final being played on October 23rd. France will be joining the rest of the squads in the All Blacks backyard for the event.
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