Wounded French on the mend

France expect to have a full squad to chose from ahead of their World Cup semi-final against England this weekend.

As many as 10 players suffered knocks during the 20-18 quarter-final win over New Zealand in Cardiff on Saturday, but all should be available for selection.

The biggest concerns are over flanker Serge Betsen and prop Olivier Milloud.

Betsen was caught by a stray knee to the back of the head after just five minutes of the match, and was immediately substituted.

"I took a big blow to the head but 10 minutes after leaving the field, I was sitting in the stand where I watched the match in peace," he said.  "The pain was a lot less on Sunday and everything is now fine."

Milloud did not reappear for the second half of the All Black game and was thought to be struggling to make the semi-final because of a neck injury.

But he told L'Equipe: "Things are going a lot better, there are no problems."

Key players who received minor injuries over the weekend, such as Yannick Jauzion (eye), Vincent Clerc (back) and Jerome Thion (thigh) should all train as normal this week.

Scrum-half Pierre Mignoni missed the quarter-final because of a thigh injury suffered during the final Pool D game against Georgia.

There were fears he would have to leave the squad, possibly to be replaced by Dimitri Yachvili, but the prognosis on the Clermont-Auvergne number nine is equally as bright.

France team doctor Thierry Hermerel said: "We are optimistic and following an MRI scan, Pierre should be able to start gradual training over the next few days."

France will name their team tomorrow for Saturday night's semi-final in Paris.