Poitrenaud steps up for France
Fullback Clement Poitrenaud and flank Julien Bonnaire have been drafted into the French side to play Ireland in the Six Nations at the Stade de France on Sunday.
They are the only two changes made by coach Philippe Saint-Andre to the side that beat Scotland 23-17 at Murrayfield last Sunday.
Poitrenaud comes in for his Toulouse teammate Maxime Medard who twisted a knee shortly after scoring what proved to be the winning try against the Scots.
It will be the 29-year-old’s first start for France since the Six Nations loss to England last year after which he failed to make the French squad for the World Cup in New Zealand.
Bonnaire returns to the starting XV in place of Louis Picamoles who pays the price for the problems the French had in the line-outs at Edinburgh.
The match against the Irish was originally scheduled for February 11, but was called off by the referee minutes before the kick-off due to the freezing night-time conditions and the dangerous state of the playing surface.
France have won both their games so far in this year’s tournament, against Italy and Scotland, while Ireland have lost to Wales and defeated Italy.
France: 15 Clement Poitrenaud, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Aurelien Rougerie, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Julien Malzieu, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (captain), 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Pascal Papé, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Dimitry Szarzewski, 1 Jean-Baptiste Poux.
Replacements: 16 William Servat, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Lionel Nallet, 19 Louis Picamoles, 20 Julien Dupuy, 21 Lionel Beauxis, 22 Maxime Mermoz.
Date: Sunday, March 4
Venue: Stade de France, Paris
Kick-off: 17.00 GMT
Referee: Dave Pearson (England)
Assistant referees: Wayne Barnes (England), Andrew Small (England)
TMO: Geoff Warren (England)
