E-mail Article Print-Friendly Version Contact Us

FRANCE

News | Profile | Anthem | Fixtures | Results | Tickets

France continue to experiment

Monday 23rd June 2008

Return of the caveman: Sébastien Chabal will start at lock

France Head Coach Marc Lièvremont has named his team to face Australia in Sydney on Saturday.

While the team has a distinctly experimental look about it, some experienced players have been recalled to accompany debutantes Alexis Palisson and Benoît Lecouls. Deprived of most of their top players, France's selection team have decided to limit their risks.

The French will however be playing a few players out of their usual positions. Montpellier fly-half François Trinh-Duc will play at inside centre in partnership with veteran France centre Damien Traille. Lièvremont has made no secret of his wish to see Trinh-Duc wear the number twelve jersey, and up against Australia his experiment will face a tough test.

Another position change sees Sale Sharks loose forward Sébastien Chabal, who was overlooked for the Six Nations, start in the second row. Two other Sale players, Sébastien Bruno and Lionel Faure will team up in the front row alongside 30-year-old Biarritz prop Lecouls.

Bourgoin's 29-year-old fly-half Benjamin Boyet, who has only three caps, will no doubt rely heavily on the experience of Biarritz scrum-half Dimitri Yachvili at half-back, while 20-year-old Brive full-back Palisson will win his first cap on the wing. Bayonne's Pepito Elhorga will play his eighteenth game for France at full-back.

"We've had a pretty clear idea of the team we want to line-up for the first Test for while," Lièvremont told the French press on Sunday.

"We're going to Australia without any complexes and nothing to lose," said forwards coach Didier Retières.

France: 15 Pepito Elhorga, 14 Alexis Palisson, 13 Damian Traille, 12 François Trinh-Duc, 11 Benjamin Thiéry, 10 Benjamin Boyet, 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Louis Picamoles, 6 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 5 Sébastien Chabal, 4 Lionel Nallet (c), 3 Benoît Lecouls, 2 Sébastien Bruno, 1 Lionel Faure.
Remplaçants: 16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Renaud Boyoud, 18 David Couzinet, 19 Mathieu Lièvremont, 20 Sébastien Tillous-Borde, 21 Thibault Lacroix, 22 David Janin.

Date: Saturday, June 21
Venue: ANZ Stadium, Sydney
Kick-off: 20:05 ( 10:05 GMT)
Referee: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Touch judges: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa), Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
TMO: Johann Meuwesen (South Africa)