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InternationalFrance

France make 3 changes after loss to Scotland but keep faith in red-carded Haouas


France prop Mohamed Haouas. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
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Ready to play their first game since the March defeat to Scotland in the Six Nations, Fabien Galthie has made three changes to the France XV that will host Wales in Paris in a friendly this Saturday.   

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Teddy Thomas, omitted completely from the Racing 92 matchday squad for last Saturday’s Champions Cup final defeat to Exeter, comes in at right wing for Damian Penaud who was sidelined earlier this month for up to eight weeks following a tibiofibular sprain. 

There is also a change on the other wing, Vincent Rattez coming in for benched midfielder Arthur Vincent. Gael Fickou, who started as No11 at Murrayfield, will switch into the centre to accommodate Rattez. 

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Ex-England captain Dylan Hartley on his 2013 Premiership final red card

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Ex-England captain Dylan Hartley on his 2013 Premiership final red card

The only change to the pack is at loosehead, Cyril Baille replacing the retired Jefferson Poirot. It means Galthie has forgiven his tighthead Mohamed Haouas after his red card significantly influenced the result in Scotland, France losing and ending their Grand Slam hopes following three February wins.  

Galthie said: “This team looks like the starting XV of our first match at the Six Nations tournament against England. We like continuity. It’s a mission enterprise, we met 90 players, the managers with whom we shared our life project, of game. 

“This team which will start is the same which started last February… our team is growing and gaining individual and collective maturity.”

It wasn’t until last week that Galthie was able to plough ahead with plans for France’s six-match autumn. 

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A stand-off between the Top 14 clubs and the French federation placed the release of players in jeopardy and the argument was even taken to the Council Of State who insisted it was up to the two warring factions to find a compromise. 

France will follow their warm-up with Wales by hosting Ireland on October 31 in the fixture that will confirm who wins the 2020 Six Nations.  

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Comments on RugbyPass

C
Conrad 4 minutes ago
There's only one selection that truly matters for the All Blacks this July

Fair but I would risk it for a biscuit.

Him and Richie! Ahhh



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H
Hammer Head 4 minutes ago
Losing to Henry Pollock would be unbearable

They will be, but they must focus on getting the job done. Not Henry pollock. Or anything else for that matter.

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H
Hammer Head 5 minutes ago
Losing to Henry Pollock would be unbearable

Hope you’re right!

15 Go to comments
H
Hammer Head 18 minutes ago
Losing to Henry Pollock would be unbearable

Apart from maybe losing RG Snyman in his normal role off the bench, the lock department can’t really be described as threadbare for this test. So I don’t think that’s a real vulnerability.

Manie Libbok has been at 80% in Japan League One this year. And already showed, before he left SA, that his technique had improved with the shorter run up.



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Lou Cifer 25 minutes ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

Exactly! should’ve probably been 2+ penalty tries awarded

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N
NoLongerARuck 28 minutes ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

Yeah plus when you kick a pen the ball comes back off the kick off and you then have to exit so it makes sense to go for the corner and look for a try because you keep the possession and territory and keep the pressure up.

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N
NoLongerARuck 31 minutes ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

For sure. The games down South are always Skewed towards the Southern teams because the Northern sides are coming off a long season where they have already played 10 internationals and have been going for 10 months. Even so though the South do win when they similarly go up North in just as trying conditions so the Northern sides must really get better and improve their end of season mentality

35 Go to comments
C
Conrad 32 minutes ago
Where's the power? And what to do with Sua'ali'i? The key questions facing the Wallabies

Yeah. They need it.

I'm Irish but I got a great bounce watching the wallabies in the lions tests. Definite potential.



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NoLongerARuck 34 minutes ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

I think hes done plenty of articles before about speed of game, ball in play time, pens etc in the Southern context and the North are now seemingly ahead in terms of key metrics that determine the quality of game especially those that World Rugby are after in terms of creating more value for fans

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Conrad 35 minutes ago
Where's the power? And what to do with Sua'ali'i? The key questions facing the Wallabies

Plenty would say that. When he first came to Leinster the guy ended careers. Overnight.

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NoLongerARuck 36 minutes ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

England were really awful on defence that game, were shellshocked half way through it

35 Go to comments
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Conrad 37 minutes ago
Where's the power? And what to do with Sua'ali'i? The key questions facing the Wallabies

Toner was treated terribly. Nobody would call him world class but he had to have been one of the most improved players at test level for a period. He was the only reason the 2016 SA tour was even close. Awful treatment in the end.

Henshaw has spoken about being the 24th man early on and accompanying the sqaud on tours. Schmidt would still expect non-playing sqaud memebrs to be able to talk him through all the set plays when he asked them. If you couldn't, it was never overlooked.



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GrahamVF 37 minutes ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

In all fairness the ref backed off giving penalties and after the pack had marched the Irish pack backwards on the double for ten meters then folded he tol the Bok scrummie “Play it.”

The psychological advantage of being so comprehensively dismantled in the scrums is huge. You can fix missed tackles and sloppy attack - even fix high ball skills - but it’s far more difficult to fix an entire scrum when they are that comprehensively beaten. And that’s what Rassie’s aim was - not necessarily scoreboard dominance but to send the message if you want to play on the same field as us you had better fix your scrum. Like I said - not so easily done.



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NoLongerARuck 39 minutes ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

How do you judge the North South battle and if the North is catching the South? I think theres a couple of categories to consider. In the early 2000’s the South was ahead on almost every category that determines the quality of rugby playing region. I would say the categories are:

Coaching



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GrahamVF 43 minutes ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

“Having opened it up coincided with a massive uplift in the success of the Springboks.” That and the development of black and Coloured players. A huge previously untapped resource to the Springboks.

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GrahamVF 45 minutes ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

“The North arguably offers more in terms of entertainment than the South at club level as well. The Prem, the Champs Cup, URC and Top 14 all feature plenty of scoring and different playing styles while Super Rugby seems to be the same thing game in game out. While the South tries to speed up the game artificially with new trials and law variations the North has shown you can do it with good refereeing which penalises cynical play harshly and encourages positive actions on the field.”

Great para and sums it up perfectly. In SA we were sooooo tired of the endless 26 phase going nowhere or backwards cycles of Super Rugby the URC came as a breath of fresh air. We were back to the various elements that make rugby stand out from league. Scrum, ruck, lineout, maul - variety fGs



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NoLongerARuck 53 minutes ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

The Six Nations produced so many compelling games and so much of action packed moments that you can only conclude that its the best international comp out there at the moment except for a world cup. If Wales improve it will be even better especially given the strides Italy have made in recent times. The Rugby Championship is now taking a hiatus in a year it really should be building toward something better which is terrible considering the competition was so tight last year. The Nations Champs promises much but one gets the feeling that the 6 Nations teams will not be at their peak given its at the end of their long season. In terms of rugby quality and entertainment Id rather watch the 6 Nations over everything else other than a world cup right now. The North arguably offers more in terms of entertainment than the South at club level as well. The Prem, the Champs Cup, URC and Top 14 all feature plenty of scoring and different playing styles while Super Rugby seems to be the same thing game in game out. While the South tries to speed up the game artificially with new trials and law variations the North has shown you can do it with good refereeing which penalises cynical play harshly and encourages positive actions on the field. In terms of entertainment the North wins. In terms of winning? They are making strides but until they win another world cup or get a team to rank number 1 again for an extended time again they cant really say they are better than the South.

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C
Conrad 54 minutes ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

Agree. In the end, they had to resort to starting off the ball stuff at 77 mins to rattle Ireland and run the clock as it was only a two score game - which is insane given their dominance.

I suspect Rassie may have gone hard on them afterwards.



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35 Go to comments
C
Conrad 56 minutes ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

Agree. Tournament play or a knockout game I’m sure they would be nailing their kicks instead.

Even conservatively, they left 12-15 PTS behind which is strange as they should have been worth double that by getting their opponents down to 12 players.



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C
Conrad 59 minutes ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

It’s noticeable that most NH test teams now refuse to kick for goal until maybe the 3rd or 4th time of asking across the same phases of play. It’s such a trend that they have to be coached that way now.

I think the amended rules around playing the 9 - or not being able to - have helped things as the teams seem to prefer kicking 50/50 constestables or going multi-phase in the opponents 22. The 6N teams generally have tempo 9’s that are hitting 70+ rucks a match, so it suits them.



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35 Go to comments
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