Publications
Partners
Auckland - France coach Marc Lievremont stood by his controversial decision to play Morgan Parra at flyhalf after again naming him in his team for Saturday's Rugby World Cup quarter-final against England at Eden Park.
Lievremont's move in playing Clermont scrumhalf Parra at No 10 ahead of specialist flyhalf Francois Trinh-Duc has been one of the talking points of this World Cup.
But although France, with Parra at flyhalf, have lost to both New Zealand (37-17) and, far more dramatically, Tonga, who beat Les Bleus 19-14 in Wellington last weekend, Lievremont has stuck with his new flyhalf, who will again have Dimitri Yachvili inside him at scrumhalf in the team announced on Tuesday.
"Despite the great qualities of Francois in that position, I love the possibility of playing Morgan there and his understanding with Dimitri Yachvili," Lievremont told reporters.
"Morgan is a competitor. I think he's added a certain dynamism which, although it didn't produce concrete results against New Zealand, I want to stick with."
No team has ever won the World Cup after losing one pool match, let alone two.
But Lievremont, for whom Saturday's fixture could be his last in charge as he will be replaced after the tournament by fellow former France international Phillipe Saint-Andre, insisted the team could bounce back.
"The essential thing is that the players must take responsibility," he said.
"One can have regrets, and I am the first to have regrets, but now we are in this difficult situation we have to react.
"But I am convinced the players can react," he added ahead of a match where France will try to avoid losing to England in a third successive World Cup, following defeats in the semi-finals of both the 2003 and 2007 semi-finals.
The only changes to the starting side beaten by Tonga saw the return of first-choice No 8 Imanol Harinordoquy in place of Raphael Lakafia while leading tighthead prop Nicolas Mas took over from Luc Ducalcon.
Meanwhile centre Aurelien Rougerie was included in midfield despite suffering a shoulder injury last weekend.
On the bench, back David Marty took the spot vacated by Fabrice Estebanez, whose World Cup ended on Monday when he was banned for three weeks for a dangerous tackle against Tonga after coming on as a replacement.
England, unbeaten at the tournament so far and 17-9 winners over France in the Six Nations in February, are due to name their side on Thursday.
Teams:
France:
15 Maxime Medard, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Aurelien Rougerie, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Alexis Palisson, 10 Morgan Parra, 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (captain), 5 Lionel Nallet, 4 Pascal Pape, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 William Servat, 1 Jean-Baptiste Poux
Substitutes: 16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Fabien Barcella, 18 Julien Pierre, 19 Louis Picamoles, 20 Francois Trinh-Duc, 21 David Marty, 22 Cedric Heymans
England:
TBA
