France struggle with line-up to play England

MARCOUSSIS, FRANCE - Bernard Laporte and his technical staff were still mulling over their line-up for Sunday's Six Nations rugby clash with England today.
The main question was the availability of flanker Serge Betsen who was recalled in emergency after the "laborious game " against Scotland, as Laporte described Les Bleus' 16-9 win at the Stade de France on Saturday.

After recovering ahead of schedule from a thigh injury he suffered only three weeks ago, the 44-cap Betsen is due to appear on Wednesday before an ERC disciplinary committee.

The Biarritz player was cited by the London Wasps for tripping England centre Stuart Abbott during a Heineken match last month. Abbott broke his leg in the collision and has been ruled out for the rest of the season.

After rebuilding his back row from scratch before the Scotland match because Imanol Harinodoquy and Olivier Magne were also injured, Laporte now has to rethink his front row.

Prop Pieter de Villiers has withdrawn from the England game because of a shoulder injury. Nicolas Mas has replaced him in the 22-man squad and Laporte has to decide between handing him a start or switching Sylvain Marconnet to blindside and promoting Olivier Milloud from the bench.

Locks Fabien Pelous and Jerome Thion also are under scrutiny as the Scotland game did not make up for below-par performances against Argentina and New Zealand in November.

"They were not at their best but with Pascal Pape injured and Gregory Lamboley lacking experience at international level we shall have to rely on them," said assistant coach Jacques Brunel who is in charge of the forwards.

As has happened frequently since Laporte took over as coach after the 1999 World Cup, the halfbacks dominated discussions before the Scotland game and still are as Pierre Mignoni and Yann Delaigue were outplayed.

"Can we afford to face England without an experienced goalkicker is the true question we have to solve?," said backline coach Bernard Vivies.

"If the answer is yes, Mignoni and Delaigue will start at Twickenham. If the answer is no, we'll have to decide if Mignoni is really a better halfback than Dimitri Yachvili or if we have to recall Frederic Michalak to assume goalkicking duties."

Tuesday's training session did not answer any questions about Laporte's decision. Yachvili and Mignoni shared time with the first team, while Michalak was the only number 10 on the field as Delaigue was rested, suffering from a stiff neck.

- REUTERS