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France: Defeat a major blow
22/11/2006 19:50 - (SA)
Marcoussis - France coach Bernard Laporte made two changes to his team as he seeks to avoid a fifth straight loss to Argentina in Saturday's rugby international at the Stade de France.
Scrumhalf Dimitri Yachvili comes in because Jean-Baptiste Elissalde has a calf injury, while Christophe Dominici is given another chance on the wing and Aurelien Rougerie drops to the bench.
Laporte has numerous options to choose from on the wings.
"We have four wingers all competing with each other," Laporte said, referring also to Cedric Heymans and Vincent Clerc.
France had previously lost two Tests to New Zealand - 23-11 last week and 47-3 two weeks ago.
"We need continuity to gain in confidence," Laporte said Wednesday. "There is no point largely changing a team which played so well for the first hour (last week)."
Raphael Ibanez continues as captain in the absence of the injured Fabien Pelous, while Remy Martin is again preferred to Serge Betsen at openside flanker for France's final test of the year.
Players know their responsibilities
"It is the most important match for the confidence of the team," France manager Jo Maso said. "It's a match we can't afford to lose and the players know their responsibilities."
France open their World Cup campaign against Argentina on Sept 7 and Maso feels a loss on Saturday would be a psychological blow.
"We would lose the credit that we have gained over the last three years," he added.
After Les Tricolores were outscored 9 tries to 1 by New Zealand, Laporte is eager for improvement.
"We want to score a lot of tries," Laporte said. "The All Blacks stopped us doing it. I hope that won't be the case with Argentina."
France scored 18 tries in five matches earlier this year to become Six Nations champions.
France: Pepito Elhorga, Cedric Heymans, Florian Fritz, Yannick Jauzion, Christophe Dominici, Damien Traille, Dimitri Yachvili; Olivier Milloud; Raphael Ibanez (captain), Pieter de Villiers, Lionel Nallet, Pascal Pape, Julien Bonnaire, Remy Martin, Elvis Vermeulen.
Replacements: Dimitri Szarzewski, Sylvain Marconnet, Loic Jacquet, Serge Betsen, Pierre Mignoni, David Marty, Aurelien Rougerie.
- AP
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