France names unchanged squad
Source: Agencies |
March 16, 2010, Tuesday
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FRANCE coach Marc Lievremont has announced an unchanged squad to face England in the Six Nations.
Following a 46-20 home win over Italy, Lievremont called back the same players for Saturday's game at the Stade de France outside Paris.
France has won its first four matches in the tournament and is on course for its first grand slam since 2004, following victories over Scotland, Ireland, Wales and Italy.
It has virtually won its first Six Nations since 2007 as it leads the table with eight points and a points difference of plus 64 while Ireland, which will host Scotland on Saturday, is on six points and plus 14 points difference.
On Sunday, the home side ran in six tries, including two from center David Marty, and gathered 16 points from the reliable boot of scrumhalf Morgan Parra.
Italy, which recorded a rare win over Scotland in its last match, had to be content with two penalties from wing Mirco Bergamasco who also converted the consolation tries from substitutes Carlo Del Fava and Pablo Canavosio.
"France are the strongest team in the competition. They have beaten Wales away, they have beaten Scotland away, they smashed Ireland, they scored 46 points against us," Italy coach Nick Mallett told a news conference when asked to compare the strengths of France and England.
"England, when you look at their performance against us, 17-12, were not very convincing, they were not very convincing against Scotland," he added.
"They certainly have a better defense but this French side is a very, very good team and, although we played badly today, I want to give them full credit."
Italy was dominated in most areas, notably the lineouts, and paid dearly for poor discipline while France relied on a mix of power and skill.
"We are happy, we are relieved because the players started the game strongly. We scored nearly 50 points, six tries, most of them well conceived, and we were lucky enough not to lose players through injuries," Lievremont said.
Italy was down to 14 men after center Gonzalo Garcia received a yellow card for a late tackle on wing Marc Andreu.
Following a 46-20 home win over Italy, Lievremont called back the same players for Saturday's game at the Stade de France outside Paris.
France has won its first four matches in the tournament and is on course for its first grand slam since 2004, following victories over Scotland, Ireland, Wales and Italy.
It has virtually won its first Six Nations since 2007 as it leads the table with eight points and a points difference of plus 64 while Ireland, which will host Scotland on Saturday, is on six points and plus 14 points difference.
On Sunday, the home side ran in six tries, including two from center David Marty, and gathered 16 points from the reliable boot of scrumhalf Morgan Parra.
Italy, which recorded a rare win over Scotland in its last match, had to be content with two penalties from wing Mirco Bergamasco who also converted the consolation tries from substitutes Carlo Del Fava and Pablo Canavosio.
"France are the strongest team in the competition. They have beaten Wales away, they have beaten Scotland away, they smashed Ireland, they scored 46 points against us," Italy coach Nick Mallett told a news conference when asked to compare the strengths of France and England.
"England, when you look at their performance against us, 17-12, were not very convincing, they were not very convincing against Scotland," he added.
"They certainly have a better defense but this French side is a very, very good team and, although we played badly today, I want to give them full credit."
Italy was dominated in most areas, notably the lineouts, and paid dearly for poor discipline while France relied on a mix of power and skill.
"We are happy, we are relieved because the players started the game strongly. We scored nearly 50 points, six tries, most of them well conceived, and we were lucky enough not to lose players through injuries," Lievremont said.
Italy was down to 14 men after center Gonzalo Garcia received a yellow card for a late tackle on wing Marc Andreu.
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