French squad unchanged for finale
Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:09
France coach Marc Lievremont on Monday named an unchanged squad for his side's bid to claim the Six Nations' Grand Slam against England at Stade de France on Saturday.
The French are within one match of claiming their first Grand Slam since 2004 and will stick with the squad that beat Italy 46-20 in Paris last weekend, and Wales 26-20 in Cardiff on February 26.
"Even if it's obvious that it will be more complicated against England than against our Italian friends we think that this France team has what it takes to beat England on Saturday night," said Lievremont.
"They were efficient in Cardiff firstly and in Stade de France yesterday [against Italy]. It's true that we had indicated that we were looking at changes or the possibility of changes.
"It was to have all our cards in hand in order to be more competitive against England. It was also to warn the players that nothing could be taken for granted, to put on some pressure indirectly before the Italy match.
"The outcome of yesterday's match, the comfort of the game in its continuity and coaching, an extremely positive outcome in terms of injuries, allowed us to go in this direction."
France are the only team capable of landing the Grand Slam after beating Scotland 18-9 and Ireland 33-10 in their first two matches.
Their only rivals for the Six Nations title are reigning champions Ireland who are two points behind going into their final game against Scotland in Dublin on Saturday.
French squad:
Forwards: Nicolas Mas, Thomas Domingo, Jean-Baptiste Poux, Clement Baiocco, William Servat, Dimitri Szarzewski, Lionel Nallet, Julien Pierre, Sebastien Chabal, Thierry Dusautoir (captain), Julien Bonnaire, Alexandre Lapandry, Imanol Harinordoquy.
Backs: Morgan Parra, Francois Trinh-Duc, Dimitri Yachvili, Yannick Jauzion, Mathieu Bastareaud, David Marty, Julien Malzieu, Alexis Palisson, Clement Poitrenaud, Marc Andreu.
AFP
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