Marc Lievremont announced his RWC squad after France’s 26-22 win over Ireland in their final World Cup warm-up match in Ireland. He had been expected to leave out Fabien Barcella, but he has gone for the Props Sylvain Marconnet and Thomas Domingo the former is dropped, whilst Domingo has been struggling with a knee problem.
He said: (quote) It was a difficult choice. I always said the best two props in France were Thomas Domingo and Fabian Barcella and I said I hoped to retain one in the squad, and that’s the decision I’ve made. I was also surprised by the progress of Jean-Baptiste Poux and Luke Ducalcon. (end quote)
There are no other surprises in the squad and it will be interesting to see how they perform in the World Cup which takes place from 9 September to 23 October in New Zealand. France, are in Pool A along with Japan, Canada, New Zealand and Tonga.
30 Man Squad
Forwards: Fabien Barcella, Julien Bonnaire, Luc Ducalcon, Thierry Dusautoir (captain), Imanol Harinordoquy, Guilhem Guirado, Nicolas Mas, Romain Millo-Chluski, Raphael Lakafia, Lionel Nallet, Fulgence Ouedraogo, Pascal Pape, Louis Picamoles, Julien Pierre, Jean-Baptiste Poux, William Servat, Dimitri Szarzewski.
Backs: Vincent Clerc, Patrice Estebanez, Cedric Heymans, David Marty, Maxime Medard, Maxime Mermoz, Alexis Palisson, Morgan Parra, Aurelien Rougerie, David Skrela, Damien Traille, Francois Trinh-Duc, Dimitri Yachvili.