World Cup - France unchanged for Wales semi-final

Tue, 11 Oct 01:40:00 2011

France coach Marc Lievremont has stuck with the squad of 22 players that turned around their rugby World Cup campaign with their quarter-final defeat of England for their last four encounter against Wales at Eden Park on Saturday.

2011 rugby WC france - 0

France beat the Six Nations champions 19-12 last Saturday after only qualifying for the knockout stage following unconvincing pool phase victories over Japan and Canada and reports of division within the team camp.

"Once again, the same team that played Tonga and England," Lievremont said. "I would not have hesitated to name a different team if I felt that would have been better.

"The danger is for the players to start thinking they are too good ... we are Latin, so there is always a risk. The Anglo-Saxons are far more pragmatic.

"I hope the prospect of playing in the final is enough."

Lievremont continued with the tactic of playing two scrum-halves with Morgan Parra again slotting in at fly-half and Dimitri Yachvili taking the number nine jersey, though the veteran will first rest a bruised thigh he sustained against England.

"Yachvili is going to be rested in training until at least Thursday ... but he will play," Lievremont said, before adding that his side must adhere to what they do best to have any chance of advancing to the final.

"We have to be capable of imposing our own style of rugby. Wales have been playing with great intelligence ... I have been impressed by their spirit and they have been playing world class rugby."

Veteran number eight Imanol Harinordoquy, who was outstanding last week against England, will again form a bruising loose forward combination with captain Thierry Dusautoir and Julien Bonnaire.

However, one area of concern could be that the side lacks a specialist open-side flanker to combat Wales captain Sam Warburton, who has been a revelation at the tournament.

Tight-head prop Nicolas Mas, who had missed three pool matches with a hamstring injury before playing against England, was retained in a front row that includes William Servat and Jean-Baptiste Poux.

Lievremont had given organisers a matchday 22 but said that because of injury concerns he would finalise his bench by Thursday.

France team to play Wales: 15-Maxime Medard, 14-Vincent Clerc, 13-Aurelien Rougerie, 12-Maxime Mermoz, 11-Alexis Palisson, 10-Morgan Parra, 9-Dimitri Yachvili, 8-Imanol Harinordoquy, 7-Julien Bonnaire, 6-Thierry Dusautoir (captain), 5-Lionel Nallet, 4-Pascal Pape, 3-Nicolas Mas, 2-William Servat, 1-Jean-Baptiste Poux

Replacements: 16-Dimitri Szarzewski, 17-Fabien Barcella, 18-Julien Pierre, 19-Louis Picamoles, 20-Francois Trinh-Duc, 21-David Marty, 22-Cedric Heymans

Jenkins: History beckons for Wales

Reuters

Comment 64 - 83 of 83

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  1. for sale one chariot no mot and two wonky wheels any­ offers considered

    From TERRY, on Sat 15 Oct 0:14

  2. Cmon the Taffs

    From JOHN S, on Thu 13 Oct 15:50

  3. Good luck Wales,from an England fan who can still shake­ a hand in defeat,thats what made us different from most­ sports,it,s just a game.

    From Phil, on Thu 13 Oct 6:48

  4. edward what ever you said it is time to shut the f---k­ up now, england have gone home to import new player so­ shut the f---k up

    From TERRY, on Thu 13 Oct 2:08

  5. Everyone thought that England were going to make it to­ at least the semis, fortunately they never. They are­ not the team they were 4 or 8 years ago, they are a­ bunch of footballing pre madonnas who cant behave­ thenselves and, once again, time and time again bring­ an already world wide dis respected country into the­ gutter through their off field antics and silly school­ boy behavior. I have never been soooooo happy that I, a­ true proud Welshman who supports his country in any­ endevour not to be an englishman ( Note the lower case)

    From crudall, on Thu 13 Oct 2:06

  6. Who gives a toss. How can it be a world cup with so­ few teams taking part. Sounds like the Americans with­ their world series a joke

    From Paul, on Wed 12 Oct 23:47

  7. edward why so bitter are you afraid wales will do to­ france what england failed to do you have got to­ remember this world up for the way the teams have­ played you said at the begining that wales will not­ get out of the group of death that meaning the boks and­ samoa will beat wales then you said that wales would­ not beat fiji then you said ireland would send us home­ and now france it would be a good idea if you place the­ lottery on maybe you would have much more luck and all­ that time england were having all the easy teams to­ play then all of a sudden england came up against a­ french team that were not that clever but still clever­ enough to send the english home and now you are so­ bitter it makes you look a fool on this site every one­ laughing at the you when all the laughing should have­ ended last week when england went home but you are­ dragging it on and on you are a very sad bitter man

    From TERRY, on Wed 12 Oct 23:06

  8. I was actually supporting England in 2003 after Wales­ went out so dont tar everyone with the same brush. I am­ half English myself, my dad is a devout England­ supporter and so I am able to take a more objective and­ unbiased view than most.

    From Huey, on Wed 12 Oct 22:54

  9. Drawler is a word, if you can use it in Scrabble then­ as far as im concerned its a word, regardless of where­ the term may have originated. Unless your trying to say­ that any words that originated in the US are not actual­ words. Thanks for an insight into your job though,­ sounds fascinating!

    From Huey, on Wed 12 Oct 22:41

  10. Besides, how can you call yourself a real Rugby fan if­ you wanted your own team knocked out because you­ couldn't take a bit of stick from the press??? I­ agree that a lot of things were blown out of proportion­ but that is what the press always do and the players­ didn't exactly help their cause.

    From Huey, on Wed 12 Oct 21:57

  11. that is the problem with ewdward he was waiting at the­ airport with a little flag to wave at them and they­ came through another way yes the back door ­ wowhahahahahahahahahahah

    From TERRY, on Wed 12 Oct 21:53

  12. Oh dear Edward, your ineptitude shines through once­ again. Think you'll find drawler is a real word, it­ means someone who speaks with a drawl which is a slow­ lazy way of speaking. As for supporting France you are­ more than welcome to do that and I wouldn't try­ pretending that if things were the other way round that­ Welsh fans would support England, most probably­ wouldn't. What I can't understand though is why­ you dedicate so much of your time commenting on it,­ have you nothing else in your life to look forward to?

    From Huey, on Wed 12 Oct 21:48

  13. Edward Walters : Wales are still in the World Cup.­ England just crawled through the back door at Heathrow.­ That's all for now folks !

    From BigRich, on Wed 12 Oct 21:43

  14. Haha. Why, is that what you did when the French­ finished with you? Great comeback though­ "hokalouie"...genius! Got another anagram for­ you too - Wasted Drawler, another apt one! You do seem­ to know a lot about buckfast.

    From Huey, on Wed 12 Oct 20:44

  15. edward walter 82 because they never tried to rape the­ maid before they left

    From TERRY, on Wed 12 Oct 20:43

  16. Edward Walters - Did you know your name is an anagram­ of "wawls retarded". I know you're not­ very bright so should point out that that­ "wawl" means to make high-pitched whiney­ noises. Look it up! Very apt i thought.

    From Huey, on Wed 12 Oct 20:12

  17. the french are brilliant......i would love them to win­ the world cup....true class and beautiful country and­ people.

    From ., on Wed 12 Oct 20:05

  18. Mr Edward Walters you are the tosser dude

    From R Pearce, on Wed 12 Oct 20:03

  19. afedfan thanks for the offer bro I am already taken

    From R Pearce, on Wed 12 Oct 20:01

  20. Just looked up the definition of "Bigot" in­ the dictionary - "One who is strongly partial to­ one's own group, religion, race, or politics and is­ intolerant of those who differ." Theres is also a­ picture alongside of Edward Walters, Richard Collins­ and David Peter involved in a 3 way orgy.

    From Huey, on Wed 12 Oct 19:32
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