News: Lièvremont calls up Michalak and four new caps, but no place for sorry Bastareaud

28 October 2009

France head coach Marc Lièvremont has recalled Frédéric Michalak and named four uncapped players in his 30-man squad for the forthcoming internationals.

Michalak, 27, has been granted the chance to add to his 50 caps following the injury to Stade Francais fly-half Lionel Beauxis. The Stade Toulousain player was picked ahead of club rival Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, despite the latter playing more matches at No 10 this season than Michalak.

Lièvremont said Michalak now needed to show a consistency and maturity of performance to repay the coach’s faith in him.

“We are still waiting for him to confirm his potential even though Fred has 50 caps for France,” said Lièvremont. “There is always the hope that he will show his best form.”

The new caps in the squad include Bayonne’s exciting young winger Benjamin Fall (20), and former France Under-21 captain Alexandre Lapandry (22). The latter has been  prominent in Clermont Auvergne’s back row for the past 18 months, while Fall has been called up while leading the try-scoring table in Top 14 this season.

Stade Francais flanker Antoine Burban (22) and Castres prop Luc Ducalcon have also been named.

Sébastien Chabal and former captain Lionel Nallet are both in the squad, as is Toulouse’s new centre Yann David, who has started the season in excellent form.

But there was no place for disgraced centre Mathieu Bastareaud despite the player issuing a public apology on Tuesday. “I regret that it wasn’t done before,” commented Lièvremont, before adding that the door remained open for the Stade Francais player to make an international return in the future.

Bastareaud’s apology followed widely reported comments from Lièvremont saying that he was still waiting for the player to say sorry following his false allegations of being mugged while on tour with ‘Les Bleus’ in New Zealand during the summer.

“I want to offer my apologies to the French federation, the New Zealand federation, the staff and all the players of the French team,” said the Stade Francais centre. He asked the media to “stop this circus” and reiterated that he had since come clean about what had gone on at the Wellington hotel.

“The right version of the incident is, as I said in a statement on June 25, that I came back late to the hotel in a rather disreputable state and I fell,” added the 21-year-old.

Bastareaud, who has four French caps, also said he had spoken at length with Lièvremont, who informed him that selection for the national team remained open.

Bastareaud also thanked Stade president Max Guazzini, who accompanied him at the press conference. “He helped me a lot. It is a special relationship. I thank him for everything he has done for me and my relatives. For this I am eternally grateful,” said the player.

He also denied that any other players had been involved in an alleged fight with him – leading to his injuries. “I’ve heard that some or other player hit me – that’s not true,” insisted Bastareaud.

“I know this incident is going to follow me for my whole career but I’ve learnt to live with it. I lied and assume responsibility,” he concluded.

France open their internationals with a match against South Africa on November 13 (in Toulouse), before playing Samoa on November 20^th and New Zealand on November 28^th.

France squad:
Forwards: Fabien Barcella (Biarritz), Thomas Domingo (Clermont), Sylvain Marconnet (Stade Français), Nicolas Mas (Perpignan), Luc Ducalcon (Castres), William Servat (Toulouse), Dimitri Szarzewski (Stade Français), Sebastien Chabal (Racing-Metro), Romain Millo-Chluski (Toulouse), Lionel Nallet (Racing-Metro), Pascal Papé (Stade Français), Antoine Burban (Stade Français), Thierry Dusautoir (cap, Toulouse), Imanol Harinordoquy (Biarritz), Fulgence Ouedraogo (Montpellier), Alexandre Lapandry (Clermont), Louis Picamoles (Toulouse).
Backs: Julien Dupuy (Stade Français), Morgan Parra (Clermont), Fred Michalak (Toulouse), Francois Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), Yannick Jauzion (Toulouse), David Marty (Perpignan), Maxime Mermoz (Perpignan), Yann David (Toulouse), Vincent Clerc (Toulouse), Benjamin Fall (Bayonne), Cedric Heymans (Toulouse), Maxime Médard (Toulouse), Damian Traille (Biarritz).

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