Rougerie returns for France

Published: Tuesday, 16. August, 2011 in category Northern Hemishere
Rougerie: Set to win his 64th cap

Clermont centre Aurelien Rougerie is back in the side for the first time since returning to action after fracturing his ankle in the semi-finals of the Top 14 in early May.

The 63-cap veteran will line up alongside Fabrice Estebanez, with Maxime Medard and Alexis Palisson on the wings and Toulouse veteran Cedric Heymans replacing Damien Traille at fullback.

Toulouse hooker William Servat is still suffering from a knee injury and misses out. Servat and prop Thomas Domingo will therefore be the only players named in France's provisional squad not to have played in any of the World Cup warm-up games.

Racing-Metro lock Lionel Nallet will skipper the side in the absence of flanker Thierry Dusautoir, while David Skrela and scrum-half Morgan Parra form a new half-back partnership.

Saturday's match at the Aviva Stadium will be France's final warm-up game ahead of the World Cup, with Lievremont set to reveal his 30-man squad on Sunday.

France beat Ireland 19-12 in Paris last weekend.

France team: Cedric Heymans (Toulouse); Maxime Medard (Toulouse), Aurelien Rougerie (Clermont), Fabrice Estebanez (Racing-Metro), Alexis Palisson (Brive); David Skrela (Toulouse), Morgan Parra (Clermont); Julien Bonnaire (Clermont), Louis Picamoles (Toulouse), Fulgence Ouedraogo (Montpellier); Lionel Nallet (Racing-Metro, capt), Pascal Pape (Stade Francais); Nicolas Mas (Perpignan), Dimitri Szarzewski (Stade Francais), Jean-Baptiste Poux (Toulouse).

Replacements: Guilhem Guirado (Perpignan), Fabien Barcella (Biarritz), Julien Pierre (Clermont), Raphael Lakafia (Biarritz), Dimitri Yachvili (Biarritz), Francois Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), Vincent Clerc (Toulouse), Luc Ducalcon (Castres).