France have made seven changes for the return rugby international against the Wallabies on Saturday.
The French, who went down 34-13 to the Australians in Sydney last Saturday, on Tuesday rejigged their starting lineup.
Fullback Pepito Elhorga (shoulder) and tight-head prop Lionel Faure (knee) were unavailable with injuries from last weekend’s opening Test.
Coach Marc Lievremont switched Biarritz’s Benjamin Thiiry from the left wing to fullback and made four other changes in the backline.
Toulouse’s Maxime Mermoz will partner Albi’s Thibault Lacroix in the centers and Bourgoin’s David Janin will take the left wing spot.
There will be a new scrum-half combination with Montpellier’s Francois Trinh-Duc switched from the centers to fly-half to partner Castres scrum-half Sebastien Tillous-Borde.
Dimitri Yachvili has been named as a replacement and last week’s fly-half Benjamin Boyet was left out all together.
Montpeller’s Fulgence Ouedraogo was shifted to number eight with Matthieu Lihvremont of Dax, the younger brother of the national coach, named with Imanol Harinordoquy as the two flankers.
Renaud Boyoud (Dax) and Pierre Correia (Albi) are the new props with Sale’s Sebastien Bruno remaining as hooker.
While British star Jack Draper spent the past week trying to find rhythm and comfort in his first grass tournament of the season at the Queen’s Club Championships in London, Jiri Lehecka on Saturday bulldozed everything in his path. After more than two furious hours of battle, their form was reflected in the final scoreline as Lehecka toppled a frustrated Draper, the second seed, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 to reach the biggest final of his career, against Carlos Alcaraz. Lehecka is also the first Czech to reach the men’s title match at Queen’s since Ivan Lendl lifted the trophy in 1990. Draper, who
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka staged a “crazy comeback,” saving four match points before beating Elena Rybakina 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (6) in the quarter-finals of the Berlin Open on Friday. Sabalenka was 6-2 down in the final-set tie-breaker, but won six straight points to reach her eighth semi-final of the season. “Elena is a great player and we’ve had a lot of tough battles,” Sabalenka said. “I have no idea how I was able to win those last points. I think I just got lucky.” “I remember a long time ago when I was just starting, I won a lot of matches being down
The Canterbury Crusaders edged the Waikato Chiefs 16-12 in an intense Super Rugby Pacific final battle in Christchurch yesterday to claim their 15th title in 30 years of the Southern Hemisphere competition. Hooker Codie Taylor scored a try and Rivez Reihana contributed 11 points from the kicking tee as the most dominant team in Super Rugby history extended their perfect home playoff record to 32 successive matches since 1998. The Chiefs, who were looking for a first title since 2013, scored first-half tries through George Dyer and Shaun Stevenson, but were unable to register a point after the break and fell to
REUNION: Former Barcelona players Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Miami coach Javier Mascherano are to face their former coach Luis Enrique Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi faces a tantalizing reunion with former club Paris Saint-Germain in the FIFA Club World Cup last 16 after both sides on Monday progressed to the knockout phase. Miami drew 2-2 with Palmeiras to go through second in Group A, after the Brazilian side fought back from two goals down to seal top spot. They now face an all-Brazil clash against Botafogo, who lost 1-0 to Atletico Madrid, but progressed from Group B in second at the expense of the Spaniards. Champions of Europe PSG won the group with a 2-0 victory over Seattle Sounders, paving the