International: Médard wins first cap; Lièvremont praises
rival Galthie
05 November 2008
Toulouse youngster Maxime
Médard will make his international debut for France against
Argentina on Saturday.
The 21-year-old, one of
seven Toulouse players in the starting XV, has been rewarded
for an excellent start to the current campaign and will make
his debut at full-back against the Pumas in Marseille.
Médard was a member of the
France team that won the Under-21 World Cup in 2006, and was
also the leading French try-scorer in last year’s domestic
competition (with 14).
He has been a regular in
the Toulouse team again this season, mostly playing at
full-back but also on the wing now that Clement Poitrenaud
has returned from injury.
Médard, who has been
tipped for the top while progressing through the age groups,
certainly won’t lack familiar faces following the inclusion
of six of his club colleagues, including David Skrela at
fly-half.
“We’re picking players who
are performing and Toulouse are ahead of other teams,”
explained backs coach Emile N’Tamack.
Skrela, who wasn’t even in
the original squad until Lionel Beauxis and Francois
Trinh-Duc withdrew with injuries, joins team-mates Yannick
Jauzion, Cedric Heymans, Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, Thierry
Dusautoir, Romain Millo-Chluski, Benoit Lecouls and Médard
in the starting line-up.
Meanwhile, France coach
Marc Lièvremont has played down the rivalry between himself
and former Stade Francais coach Fabien Galthie, who joined
up with the Pumas this week.
The pair, former international colleagues
together with France, will come face to face in Marseille on
Saturday, the first time they have been in direct
competition since former Dax coach Lièvremont surprisingly
beat Galthie to the French job following Bernard Laporte’s
departure.
“It is not a case of Marc
Lièvremont against Fabien Galthie, it is France against
Argentina,” said Lièvremont.
“There is respect between
us, I know that he is a competent coach and a big plus for
the Argentinian backroom staff. I can’t really criticise him
in any case because we have David Ellis [defence coach] who
is English and Gonzalo Quesada [kicking coach] who is
Argentinian.
“We have crossed paths and
discovered various players and the France team. We have
known each other for 20 years, we were students together and
team-mates with France,” he added.
Galthie has been working in the media since resigning from
the Stade Francais job in June, where Ewen McKenzie
succeeded him.
“I am happy for him
because he was a bit tired of the day to day coaching of an
extremely demanding club,” said Lièvremont.
“He has several things
going on in his business life and it will be good for him to
be able to focus on matters on the pitch for a few weeks.”
France XV: Maxime Médard (Toulouse); Julien Malzieu
(Clermont), Yannick Jauzion (Toulouse), Benoit Baby
(Clermont), Cedric Heymans (Toulouse); David Skrela
(Toulouse), Jean-Baptiste Elissalde (Toulouse); Imanol
Harinordoquy (Biarritz), Louis Picamoles (Montpellier),
Thierry Dusautoir (Toulouse); Lionel Nallet (Castres, capt),
Romain Millo-Chluski (Toulouse); Benoit Lecouls (Toulouse),
Dimitri Szarzewski (Stade Francais), Fabien Barcella
(Biarritz)
Replacements: Benjamin Kayser (Leicester), Nicolas
Mas (Perpignan), Sebastien Chabal (Sale), Fulgence Ouedraogo
(Montpellier), Morgan Parra (Bourgoin), Damien Traille
(Biarritz), Alexis Palisson (Brive)
Weekend international fixtures:
Saturday, 08.11.2008
Italy v Australia (15.00)
England v Pacific Islands (15.30)
Wales v South Africa (15.30)
Ireland v Canada (18.15)
Scotland v New Zealand (18.15)
France v Argentina (21.00)
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