Injuries
to Vincent Clerc and Fulgence Ouedraogo have forced Marc
Lièvremont to make two changes to the French starting XV
which takes on Wales in Cardiff on Friday night.
Bayonne's fit-again winger Benjamin Fall - who scored at the
weekend - and Clermont Auvergne's Julien Bonnaire have been
named as their replacements, former Under-21's captain
Alexandre Lapandry among the subs. Brive winger Alexis
Palisson has recovered from the bruised thigh he sustained
against Ireland and is set to start, with Julien Malzieu
once more on the bench.
Scotland 9 France 18 /
France 33 Ireland 10
Veteran
Stade Francais prop Sylvain Marconnet was also ruled out of
the match due to injury, paving the way for Stade
Toulousain's Jean-Baptiste Poux to join the replacements.
Lièvremont is backing his previously stated desire to
establish continuity of selection as his team strives to
register a third successive victory for the first time under
his tenure.
France
have begun the RBS Six Nations in fine form, registering
convincing wins against Scotland (9-18) and Ireland (33-10)
as they back up their pre-tournament 'favourites' tag. They
are now eyeing a possible Grand Slam, although the might of
Wales in front of a sold-out crowd at the Millennium Stadium
stands in their way on Friday evening.
| Pos |
Team |
Pld |
W |
D |
L |
For |
Aga |
Pts |
| 1 |
France |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
51 |
19 |
4 |
| 2 |
England |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
47 |
29 |
4 |
| 3 |
Ireland |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
39 |
44 |
2 |
| 4 |
Wales |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
48 |
54 |
2 |
| 5 |
Scotland |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
33 |
49 |
0 |
| 6 |
Italy |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
23 |
46 |
0 |
France starting XV v Wales: Clément Poitrenaud (Stade
Toulousain), Benjamin Fall (Bayonne), Mathieu Bastareaud
(Stade Francais), Yannick Jauzion (Stade Toulousain), Alexis
Palisson (Brive), Francois Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), Morgan
Parra (Clermont Auvergne), Imanol Harinordoquy (Biarritz),
Julien Bonnaire (Clermont Auvergne), Thierry Dusautoir
(Capt, Stade Toulousain), Pascal Papé (Stade Francais),
Lionel Nallet (Racing-Métro 92), Nicolas Mas (Perpignan),
William Servat (Stade Toulousain), Thomas Domingo (Clermont
Auvergne).
Subs: Dimitri Szarzewski (Stade Francais),
Jean-Baptiste Poux (Stade Toulousain), Julien Pierre
(Clermont Auvergne), Alexandre Lapandry (Clermont Auvergne),
Frédéric Michalak (Stade Toulousain), David Marty
(Perpignan), Julien Malzieu (Clermont Auvergne).
