Sport

Laporte refuses to panic

France coach Bernard Laporte opted for stability when he named a 22-man squad for the Six Nations match against England at Twickenham…

Sat Mar 31 2001 - 01:00

France coach Bernard Laporte opted for stability when he named a 22-man squad for the Six Nations match against England at Twickenham next Saturday. Laporte elected to stick with tried and true performers in the back line, but added new blood to his forwards.

Deprived of prop Christian Califano and centre Sebastien Bonetti by injury, Laporte also omitted replacement outhalf Christophe Lamaison - who has been troubled by a thigh injury - number eight Christophe Juillet and fellow back-row players Christophe Moni and Serge Betsen from the side which lost 43-35 to Wales on St Patrick's Day.

While the backs remain largely unchanged, Laporte has called up some younger players in an attempt to reignite his pack after two training camps which saw several players pick up niggling injuries.

Centre Stephane Glas returns and is a possible replacement for Bonetti, while David Skrela - the son of former France star and coach Jean-Claude Skrela - is the shadow for outhalf Gerald Merceron in Lamaison's absence.

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Full back Jean-Luc Sadourny has retained his place despite missing training camps. He is expected to make his final international appearance at Twickenham.

Flanker Christophe Milheres, lock Lionel Nallet and prop Alessio Galasso are all included after some impressive performances this season, while in the back row Thomas Lievremont is recalled after not having played a test Test for a year.

England's Phil Vickery confirmed yesterday that he will miss the clash because of injury.

The Gloucester tighthead prop has strained a neck muscle and is likely to be replaced by Saracens' Julian White.

FRANCE SQUAD: Backs - X Garbajosa (Toulouse), P Bernat-Salles (Biarritz), C Dominici (Stade Francais), T Lombard (Stade Francais), G Merceron (Montferrand), D Skrela (Colomiers), F Galthie (Colomiers), P Carbonneau (Pau), S Glas (Borgouin), J-L Sadourny (Colomiers). Forwards - Olivier Magne (Montferrand), C Milheres (Biarritz), T Lievremont (Biarritz), F Pelous (Toulouse) capt, D Auradou (Stade Francais), A Benazzi (Agen), S Marconnet (Stade Francais), P de Villiers (Stade Francais), F Landreau (Stade Francais), R Ibanez (Castres), L Nallet (Bourgoin), A Galasso (Montferrand).