New cap Lauret to face 'intense' Boks
Tue, 08 Jun 2010 10:42
Newlands debut: French flank Wenceslas Lauret (ball)
French coach Marc Lievremont has named a strong starting line-up to face the Springboks in Cape Town on Saturday, with young Biarritz flank Wenceslas Lauret set to make his debut in a new-look back row.
Lauret has benefitted from a superb European run with his club side Biarritz, who lost out narrowly to fellow Top 14 outfit Toulouse in the Heineken Cup Final.
He displaces powerhouse Toulouse loose forward Louis Picamoles, who may have been expected to start in the absence of injured regular No.8 Imanol Harinordoquay (rib).
Lauret will start in the No.7 shirt, with Julien Bonnaire at eighthman and captain Thierry Dusautoir on the other flank.
"Lauret is young player who is fresh from a European Final," Lievremont told a media gathering in Cape Town. "He is a good defender and his tackling is especially strong."
Lievremont explained Picamole's non-selection, and said that the 21 year-old would come on as an impact player around the 50th minute.
"I expected more from him individually over the past season, which is the reason behind his non-selection," said the Les Bleus boss.
"But he is a young player and we fully expect him to rise up from this and improve."
Lievremont continued, highlighting South Africa's strength amongst the loose forwards, and admitted that he expected the battle of the breakdown to have a great impact on the outcome of the game.
"The back-row we have chosen has a good balance , which we need to stand up to the intensity of the Springboks.
"The Springboks base a lot of their game around their loose-forwards, so we will need to counter them there if we are to win the game."
Lievremont also said he expected an improved Springbok side from the one which scraped past Wales last Saturday, and certainly a better one than the team which they outplayed in Toulouse last year, saying that the Boks would be "fresher and better" than the tired outfit they beat at home.
This time it may be the French who are less energetic after an arduous domestic season, but Lievremont dismissed suggestions that they would revert to a slower-paced gameplan.
"We always try to play total rugby, without relying on kicking and up-and-unders," he said from a cold and wet Cape Town.
The match is a contest between the current champions of their respective hemispheres, and the outcome could hold special significance in that it will give the winner an important psychological edge going into the World Cup next year.
Lievremont, though, is not convinced that the match will give a true indication of the standing of each side in the world order and described winning as "important, but not essential" to their World Cup chances.
Like South Africa, France are not only the champions of their hemispheres, but will be on a high after having two teams in a major club competition - in their case the Heineken Cup.
The players from Biarritz and Toulouse will be soaring with confidence ahead of the game, which is not always a good thing, according to assistant coach Didier Retiere. "Confidence is sometimes a weakness for French players," he said.
"But what it has done has made them more comfortable in their work, which will help us."
Along with Imanol Harinordoquay, France will be without some of their other big-hitters on tour.
The loss of Mathieu Bastareaud (groin) and Yannick Jauzion (elbow) in the centres is most notable, but Lievremont says that the new-look midfield pairing of Maxime Mermoz and David Marty would have no problem in gelling as they play their club rugby together at Top 14 side, Perpignan.
Another point worth noting is that the French have named an extended 23-man squad in line with the French domestic league, but it will probably have to be cut to 22 players - as is normally the case in internationals.
If that is the case, and it is likely, then Luc Ducalcon will drop out as the extra front-row forward.
France: 15 Clement Poitrenaud, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 David Marty, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Aurelien Rougerie, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Julien Bonnaire, 7 Wenceslas Lauret, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (captain), 5 Romain Millo-Chluski, 4 Lionel Nallet, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Thomas Domingo.
Replacements: 16 Guilhem Guirado, 17 Jean Baptiste Poux, 18 Julien Pierre, 19 Louis Picamoles, 20 Dimitri Yachvili, 21 David Skrela, 22 Marc Andreu, 23 Luc Ducalcon.
Date: Saturday, June 12
Venue: Newlands, Cape Town
Kick-off: 14.00 (12.00 GMT)
Referee: Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Keith Brown (New Zealand), David Changleng (Scotland)
TMO: Graham Hughes (England)
By Tim Human
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