Rugby-France to attack Pumas with massive midfield

France will rely on their most massive midfield ever when they attempt to maul the Pumas in Montpellier on Saturday.

Never in the country of flair and elusive runners, have players as powerfully built as Damien Traille, inside centre Yannick Jauzion and outside centre Aurelien Rougerie been associated at the core of the national team.

Traille is 1.94 metres tall and weighs 98 kgs, Jauzion is 1.93 metres and weighs 95 kgs and Rougerie is 1.94 metres and weighs 93 kgs.

"They have power but they also have speed, hands and experience," the France assistant coach in charge of the backs, Emile Ntamack, told Reuters.

"It's a very interesting combination," added the former international, who was himself a powerful player of the 1990s and won 46 caps as a winger, fullback and, at the end of his career, at centre.

Traille has 75 caps, Jauzion 68 and Rougerie 57. The three of them are in their thirties.

Why did it take so long then for them to wear the number 10, 12, and 13 blue jerseys in the same backline ?

The reason is Traille decided to switch from inside centre to flyhalf at the start of the season only and it took Rougerie a year and a half to complete his move from pure winger to outside centre.

Both say they did it at the request of their club.

"It was also a way to put myself at risk," added Traille, who plays club rugby with Biarritz.

"I thought it was an interesting challenge", said Rougerie, who won last season's Top 14 title with Clermont as a centre.

"It was not easy and I had to work hard because there is a big difference between playing on the wing, where your job is to score tries, and as a centre where you have to think about the other players, pass the ball and create spaces," the Clermont captain added.

"When I heard I had been recalled so quickly to the national squad as a centre, it came as a real surprise because I think I still have a lot of progress to make."

France coach Marc Lievremont said he had no worries about the success of the two conversions.

"Aurelien's decision was a very intelligent one because he is now a more mature player and he had lost some speed over long runs," he said.

"Traille's switch was more obvious because he has everything to make a good flyhalf. He has good tactical sense and power to attack the line, he is a good tackler and a good kicker from the hands."

(jean-paul.couret@thomsonreuters.com; +33 1 49 49 53 70; Reuters Messaging: jean-paul.couret.reuters.com@reuters.net; For the new Reuters sports blog Left Field go to: http://blogs.reuters.com/sports)

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