RUGBY:AS EXPECTED, Marc Lièvremont has granted a Test debut to the 22-year-old Biarritz sensation Raphael Lakafia in the first of France's two warm-up games against Ireland in Bordeaux this Saturday.
All told, the French coach makes eight changes from the starting XV which finished off the Six Nations with a 28-9 win over Wales, and has vowed to rotate his squad as much as possible for next week’s return meeting in the Aviva Stadium.
But Lièvremont has also said he will seek to put out “two homeogenous teams” against Ireland with “a blend of youth and experience in every area of the team”. To that end, Lakafia packs down between French captain Thierry Dusautoir and fellow Biarritz backrower Imanol Harinordoquy, and in front of Dimitri Yachvili, the Biarritz organiser in chief. And, as was the case last season at club level when Lakafia broke into the team, Harinordoquy has had to shift across to openside to accommodate the 22-year-old.
A son of former French javelin champion Jean-Paul Lakafia, his mother, Laurence, was a discus thrower at national level and he’s the brother of Toulouse winger Pierre-Gilles Lakafia. Having played underage rugby with US Tours, he spend the 2005-06 season at Clermont and then, along with his brother, moved to Grenoble in ProD2 for two seasons.
Lakafia played for the French Under-19s in the IRB Junior World Championships in 2008, and a year later joined Biarritz where he had a disappointing first season. Considered out of shape and too introverted, he promptly lost 11lbs in the off-season and was a revelation last season with his speed, strong ball-carrying and good hands.
“We wanted to throw Raphael Lakafia into the deep end as quickly as possible,” said Lièvremont of the backrower. “Over the last five weeks I’ve found him to be an intelligent boy, very at ease with ball in his hands and as part of the group. We believe he is ready and he will be well surrounded by Imanol Harinordoquy and Dimitri Yachvili, his club mates.”
Lakafia’s debut probably also explains having his club captain behind him, with Morgan Parra set to start next week, as Yachvili, the left-footed goal-kicking scrumhalf with the spindly legs has only played five times under Lièvremont.
The ravages of last season’s Top 14, which didn’t finish until Toulouse beat Montpellier in the final on June 4th, meant several players carried injuries into the start of Les Bleus’ preparations on June 28th, while others have since picked up knocks in camp.
So it is that William Servat, Aurelien Rougerie and Fabien Barcella have been given another week to get themselves right for the Aviva clash, when several of those on the bench along with the likes of veteran fullback Cédric Heymans, Brive centre Fabrice Estebanez (a surprise inclusion), Nicolas Mas, Fulgence Ouedraogo and Louis Picamoles will also feature.
However, others have been pressed into action immediately after lengthy absences. Stade Francais hooker Dimitri Szarzewski will make his first appearance for France since the June 2010 defeats in Argentina after recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon and Maxime Mermoz will play his first game since suffering a serious shoulder injury during the Six Nations against Scotland.
Barcella will travel as 23rd man after passing tests on the torn biceps he suffered in training last week, with Lièvremont admitting “we’re impatient”, when questioned over the prop’s inclusion.
The French coach will trim his squad by two after these two games and at least one looks like being a prop, given six are in the current group of 32.
Damien Traille, now at fullback but then at centre, outhalf Francois Trinh-Duc, lock Julien Pierre, Dusautoir and Harinordoquy are the only players from the starting team which beat Ireland 25-22 last February in the Aviva Stadium (when Yachvili, the veteran Sylvain Marconnet and Vincent Clerc were on the bench). That was France’s ninth win over Ireland in the last 10 meetings.
FRANCE (v Ireland): D Traille (Biarritz); V Clerc (Toulouse), D Marty (Perpignan), M Mermoz (Perpignan), A Palisson (Brive); F Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), D Yachvili (Biarritz); S Marconnet (Biarritz), D Szarzewski (Stade Francais), L Ducalcon (Castres), J Pierre (Clermont Auvergne), R Millo-Chluski (Toulouse), T Dusautoir (Toulouse) (capt), I Harinordoquy (Biarritz), R Lakafia (Biarritz). Replacements: G Guirado (Perpignan), JB Poux (Toulouse), L Nallet (Racing Metro), J Bonnaire (Clermont Auvergne), M Parra (Clermont Auvergne), D Skrela (Toulouse), M Medard (Toulouse), F Barcella (Biarritz) .
