French experiment with Harinordoquy
French coach Philippe Saint-André will experiment with Imanol Harinordoquy on the side of the scrum as one of four changes to his side for Saturday’s Six Nations clash against Ireland.
The former Sale boss took over from Marc Lievremont after the World Cup and enjoyed a 30-12 success over Italy in his first match in charge on Saturday.
Despite that win, Saint-André revealed four changes to the pack.
Regular No.8 Harinordoquy lost his place in the side last weekend to the impressive Louis Picamoles, but has been handed a start against Ireland in the No.7 jersey ahead of Julien Bonnaire.
In the front row Jean-Baptiste Poux takes over at loosehead prop from Vincent Debaty, while Dimitri Szarzewski comes in at hooker for William Servat.
Yoann Maestri of Toulouse wins his second cap at lock in place of veteran Lionel Nallet, who drops down to the bench.
The backs remain as they were against Italy, with scrumhalf Morgan Parra forced to bide his time on the bench for the time being.
“We thought we needed some new blood,” Saint-André said.
“Maybe we put too much work in last week because it’s true we lacked a bit of vitality against Italy at the start of the game.
“No-one is being punished – it’s team-comes-first approach,” he added.
“There are just some adjustments made, taking into account it’s Ireland we are playing.”
France: 15 Maxime Medard, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Aurelien Rougerie, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Julien Malzieu, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Imanol Harinordoquy, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (captain), 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Pascal Pape, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Dimitry Szarzewski, 1 Jean-Baptiste Poux.
Replacements: 16 William Servat, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Lionel Nallet, 19 Julien Bonnaire, 20 Morgan Parra, 21 Lionel Beauxis, 22 Maxime Mermoz.
Date: Saturday, February 11
Kick-off: 21.00 (20.00 GMT)
Venue: Stade de France, Paris
Referee: Dave Pearson (England)
Assistant referees: Wayne Barnes (England), Andrew Small (England)
TMO: Geoff Warren (England)
AFP and rugby365.com
