Six Nations Championship: France have made three changes to their squad for the Six Nations match against Ireland at Lansdowne Road on Saturday week as they seek to retain the title despite losing out on back-to-back grand slams.
Coach Bernard Laporte has recalled winger Cedric Heymans, lock Pascal Pape and centre Ludovic Valbon in the 22-man squad announced yesterday.
Heymans (26), who has made 10 appearances for France, replaces Aurelien Rougerie after the Clermont-Ferrand winger was sidelined by a collarbone injury.
Pape and Valbon take over from number eight Imanol Harinordoquy and centre Jean-Philippe Grandclaude, both of whom came off the bench when France lost 24-18 to Wales at the Stade de France last weekend.
"Imanol has been dropped from the squad because the least I can say is that he didn't make a thundering comeback against Wales," said Laporte.
"We know the Ireland game will be fast and rough and we also want to be able to replace both locks during the game if needed, and Gregory Lamboley can also come on at number seven or eight."
Pape (24), has won seven caps. He started against England, Scotland, Wales and Italy last season. He was relegated to the bench for the November Tests against Australia, Argentina and New Zealand and missed the first part of the Six Nations through injury.
Valbon (28), has two caps, the first as a starter against the US last July, the second as a replacement against Scotland in France's Six Nations opener.
"Valbon plays club rugby at Brive with fullback Julien Laharrague, and that's interesting because we want to develop our backline game along the lines of our first half against Wales," said team manager Jo Maso.
Laporte confirmed outhalf Yann Delaigue would start his fourth match in a row, again relegating Frederic Michalak to the bench.
"The Grand Slam is gone but we'll go to Ireland to win. It will be a very exciting game because Ireland have three wins under their belt, have just defeated England and have their eyes set on a Grand Slam," Laporte said.
Meanwhile flanker Colin Charvis is unlikely to play any part in Wales' final two games. Charvis has missed all three of Wales' victories with an ankle injury and his recovery has been slower than expected.
"He will not figure in the Scotland game and is now thought unlikely to be ready for the final game," said Wales physio Mark Davies.
Hal Luscombe should be fit for the Murrayfield trip.
FRANCE (squad v Ireland): Forwards: Sylvain Marconnet, Nicolas Mas, Olivier Milloud, Sebastien Bruno, William Servat, Gregory Lamboley, Fabien Pelous, Jerome Thion, Pascal Pape, Serge Betsen, Julien Bonnaire, Yannick Nyanga. Backs: Pierre Mignoni, Dimitri Yachvili, Yann Delaigue, Frederic Michalak, Yannick Jauzion, Damien Traille, Christophe Dominici, Cedric Heymans, Julien Laharrague, Ludovic Valbon.
