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Only three players retained in France starting line-up for Fiji
By Lucy Lomax
France coach Thomas Darracq has retained only three players in the France starting line-up after their 13-7 loss to England for their final World Cup Pool C match against Fiji in Whang?rei on 22 October.
Céline Ferer, Caroline Drouin and Emilie Boulard retain their places, although Drouin shifts out one place to inside centre and Boulard moves to full-back.
Two of the changes were enforced with number eight Romane Ménager going through the return to play protocols after a head knock against England and scrum-half Laure Sansus ruled out of the tournament with a knee injury.
Coco Lindelauf, Laure Touye and Assia Khalfaoui are promoted from the bench to form the front row. Lindelauf and Khalfaoui both make their first starts for France since the Women’s Six Nations in April.
Safi N’Diaye, France’s most-capped player, comes into the second row alongside Céline Ferer to make her first start since November 2021.
Gaëlle Hermet returns on the blindside and assumes the captaincy with Julie Annery and Emeline Gros named alongside her in the back row.
Pauline Bourdon replaces Sansus at scrum-half with Jessy Trémoulière set for her first involvement of Rugby World Cup 2021 and only her fifth ever start at fly-half with the bulk of her 71 caps having been at full-back.
Drouin will partner Maëlle Filopon in midfield with Marine Ménager and Melissande Llorens coming onto the two wings to join Boulard in the back three.
Three players come onto the bench looking for their Rugby World Cup debuts in hooker Yllana Brosseau, prop Célia Domain and scrum-half Alexandra Chambon.
1. Coco Lindelauf
2. Laure Touye
3. Assia Khalfaoui
4. Céline Ferer
5. Safi N'Diaye
6. Gaëlle Hermet (captain)
7. Julie Annery
8. Emeline Gros
9. Pauline Bourdon
10. Jessy Trémoulière
11. Marine Ménager
12. Caroline Drouin
13. Maëlle Filopon
14. Melissande Llorens
15. Emilie Boulard
16. Yllana Brosseau
17. Célia Domain
18. Rose Bernadou
19. Manaé Feleu
20. Charlotte Escudero
21. Alexandra Chambon
22. Lina Queyroi
23. Chloé Jacquet
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Hard to disagree with the 5 points - with the exception that Wilson should be a squad member but, depending on the other loose forward selections, is not yet a shoo-in. McReight is. Aussie is looking a lot better this year and JS has some selection options. Also, Havili’s tendency to get caught, charged down is also a liability at times but he seemed focused (mostly) and is definitely a consideration for utility back-up. Still feel Reihana is a better prospect at 1st five for Saders.
Go to commentsThink it was a great defensive performance by Northampton. They didn't have stage fright in the first half, the Nienaber defense smothered them. They limited Leinster to 15-3 in the first half. It could have been over by then. A great try from Leinster in the start of the second half looked to have sealed it. But Byrne missed another conversion. Northampton started trying little kicks behind the Leinster wingers. Leinster messed one and Smith brilliantly made the conversion. Leinster decided to tighten the game after Byrne missed a straight forward penalty. A few errors got NH into the 22 and they scored and converted with a few minutes left. Another brilliant steal from Lawes saw NH have a final attack which was turned over by Conan. A classic semi final. World record attendance of 82,300. Leinsters 3 week preparation warranted for this one.
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