France
have named an unchanged squad for their clash with Wales in
10 days’ time, but Stade Toulousain coach Guy Noves
is far from impressed by the management of one particular
player after he was refused permission to include prop
Jean-Baptiste Poux in his weekend squad to play Toulon
in Top 14.
Poux was
called up to the France squad after an injury to Luc
Ducalcon, but the Stade player didn’t feature at all
against Ireland last weekend,
paving the way for Noves’ request to play him against
Toulon.
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He
initially met with a favourable response and Poux duly
trained with the Stade squad on Monday, only for the LNR to
later issue a statement that said it forbade such an
arrangement as it would be unfair on other clubs missing
international players.
Noves
argued that Poux’s case was unique, but it seems that
Clermont Auvergne got wind of what Stade were attempting and
asked if they could do likewise with their own French
internationals.
Noves
was unimpressed. “Personally, I kept thinking that a boy
like Poux, who had not played for a fortnight, needed a game
after three weeks. If he’s not used by France against Wales
he will not have played for a month,” reasoned the Stade
Toulousain boss.
“It’s
ridiculous not to realize that a player who has not played
for a month should play for his club to remain competitive
and therefore be even better with France [for the Wales
game],” he added.
Noves
lamented the decision as “stupid”, especially in light of
the number of France internationals that Stade currently
provide to Marc Lièvremont's squad.
“It
penalizes us as a club after we have already paid a high
price with Yann David and Louis Picamoles both picking up
back injuries while with France [in November], and
Jean-Baptiste Elissalde too has been injured, with Frederic
Michalak called up to replace him. Then they took Poux, and
he hasn’t even played,” Noves told Midi Olympique.
Lièvremont, meanwhile, has stuck by the 23-man squad which
he utilized for the Irish game, despite injury concerns over
wingers Alexis Palisson and Vincent Clerc, as well as prop
Sylvain Marconnet.
Coincidentally France also lost two wingers and a prop after
their opening win against Scotland – with Aurélien Rougerie,
Benjamin Fall and Luc Ducalcon all picking up injuries. “I
hope that we haven’t taken out copyright on this: we win,
and two wings and a prop are injured,” said Lièvremont.
France squad v Wales:
Forwards:
Thomas Domingo (Clermont Auvergne), Jean-Baptiste Poux
(Stade Toulousain), Sylvain Marconnet (Stade Francais),
Nicolas Mas (Perpignan), William Servat (Stade Toulousain),
Dimitri Szarzewski (Stade Francais), Pascal Pape (Stade
Francais), Lionel Nallet (Racing-Metro 92), Julien Pierre
(Clermont Auvergne), Julien Bonnaire (Clermont Auvergne),
Thierry Dusautoir (Stade Toulousain, Capt), Imanol
Harinordoquy (Biarritz), Fulgence Ouedraogo (Montpellier).
Backs:
Morgan Parra (Clermont Auvergne), François Trinh-Duc
(Montpellier), Frederic Michalak (Stade Toulousain), Mathieu
Bastareaud (Stade Francais), Yannick Jauzion (Stade
Toulousain), David Marty (Perpignan), Vincent Clerc (Stade
Toulousain), Alexis Palisson (Brive), Julien Malzieu
(Clermont Auvergne), Clement Poitrenaud (Stade Toulousain)
Elsewhere, Stade Francais prop David
Attoub will have his appeal against his ban heard by the
ERC in London on March 2.
Attoub,
28, has been
suspended from all rugby until April
2011 after he was found guilty of eye-gouging
Stephen Ferris during Stade’s Heineken Cup match with Ulster
on December 12.
Attoub
maintains his innocence, despite photographic evidence
suggesting otherwise and the presiding judge in his original
hearing describing the incident as the worst of its kind
that he had ever seen.
However,
given the length of the ban – more than a year – Attoub
probably believes that he has nothing further to lose by
appealing.
Julien
Dupuy, his Stade Francais colleague, also appealed against
the length of his suspension for also eye-gouging Ferris in
the same match, although his ban was only reduced by one
week (to 23) on a technicality.
Ireland’s Jerry Flannery, meanwhile, has now been
cited for his alleged kick on France winger Palisson during
Saturday’s 33-10 win for Lièvremont's team. Palisson was
subsequently forced off by the injury he sustained in the
incident but Flannery escaped on-field censure for an action
that some believed was worthy of a red card.
The
Irish player could now be facing a lengthy suspension that
may well end his interest in the ongoing RBS Six Nations
tournament.
In other
news, Bourgoin’s Pablo Cardinali has been given the
go-ahead to resume training after recovering from the
fractured eye socket he sustained in December.
