France
head coach Marc Lièvremont is being tipped to recall a
number of players who have been in the international
wilderness of late when he announces his squad for the RBS
Six Nations on Wednesday.
A
combination of injuries and bans have forced Lièvremont into
a a squad rethink, with the likes of Julien Dupuy, Dimitri
Yachvili, Damien Traille, Fabien Barcella and David Skrela
all unavailable for 'Les Bleus' opening match against
Scotland on February 7. Perpignan centres Maxime Mermoz and
David Marty are also injured, although they could feature in
the squad.
Lièvremont's medical team are also monitoring Stade
Toulousain pair William Servat and Romain Millo-Chluski, who
were both injured against Harlequins on Sunday. Servat went
off with a calf injury while Millo-Chluski sustained a
dislocated shoulder.
According to French reports that could mean a recall for
Stade Toulousain's Jean-Baptiste Elissalde at scrum-half -
although Clermont Auvergne's Morgan Parra is likely to get
the nod as the starting No 9 - while Bourgoin's Benjamin
Boyet could come in as fly-half cover behind Montpellier's
Francois Trinh-Duc.
Boyet,
30, won the last of his five caps during France's 2008
summer tour, while Elissalde has been overlooked of late
behind the likes of Dupuy, Parra and even Castres' injured
scrum-half Sébastien Tillous-Borde.
Other
players said to be in the running for a return to the
national team include Clermont's captain Aurélien Rougerie
and, perhaps more surprisingly, Stade Francais Mathieu
Bastareaud.
Rougerie, 29, hasn't played for France for nearly two years
since winning his 55th cap (against Italy in March 2008)
while Bastareaud was cast aside for the Autumn
internationals after his false accusations of being mugged
while on tour in New Zealand brought shame on the player and
the squad during their summer tour. No-one has ever doubted
Bastareaud's talent, and the hulking youngster has certainly
been in sparkling form of late - even scoring a try when
shifted temporarily to number eight - but it had been
thought that Lièvremont would overlook for this tournament
as further punishment for his summer escape.
But now
it seems that injuries have forced the head coach into a
rethink as he continues to build his squad for next year's
World Cup in New Zealand.
Elsewhere in France, Toulon have
allowed fly-half Sebastien Fauqué to join Top 14
strugglers Bayonne, with the transfer taking
immediate effect.
Fauqué's
departure means the Cote d'Azur side has now allowed two
fly-halves to leave the club in the past week, with South
African Conrad Barnard also packing his bags. Both players
have been squeezed out by the double arrival of Jonny
Wilkinson and Felipe Contepomi.
The
32-year-old's arrival at Bayonne is another boost for the
Basque club - currently 13th in Top 14 - following their
weekend ACC home win over Racing-Métro 92 in new coach
Christian Gajan's first game in charge. It also gives the
club a readymade replacement for fly-half Craig Gower, who
is likely to be named in Italy's Six Nations squad.
Toulon
scrum-half Pierre Mignoni, meanwhile, is on the comeback
trail after his recent torn hamstring. He is already back in
full training and could feature as part of Toulon's squad
for their must-win ACC game against fellow French side
Castres on Saturday.
Stade
Toulousain boss Guy Noves was in bullish mood after his
side's 33-21 home win against Harlequins secured the
three-time champions their 12th Heineken Cup quarter-final
in 15 seasons.
"We saw
some really fantastic stuff on the field with four great
tries, even if we conceded three, including one at the end
when we turned off," he said. Noves is now readying his side
for their weekend trip to Sale Sharks as they seek the win
which will guarantee them a home quarter-final.
"The
more you win the more you want to win. We wanted to repay
our fans and we really wanted to give them a home
quarter-final. It's been a while since we've had this
opportunity in the European Cup. But it won't be easy to win
in Sale. We saw this weekend that the English give nothing
for free," he added.
