Argentina's forward power has forced France coach Bernard Laporte into making some "painful" decisions in selecting his starting line-up for Friday's World Cup opener at the Stade de France. Fear of the Pumas' notorious pack has seen Laporte name five forwards on the replacements' bench, and that in turn has impacted on his selection in the backs.
Cedric Heymans, a winger by trade, was named at fullback in place of Toulouse colleague Clement Poitrenaud, who was thought to be a shoo-in at number 15 but cannot even make the bench. Heymans has been picked thanks to both his strong showing at fullback in the recent 34-7 win over Wales and his ability to cover a number of positions in the back-line, something that out-and-out number 15 Poitrenaud cannot do.
Laporte's faith in the versatility of David Skrela and Damien Traille, both picked in the starting XV, explains the shortage of backs on the bench.
Skrela and Pierre Mignoni will start as the halfback combination, meaning Toulouse pair Jean-Baptiste Elissalde and Frederic Michalak have to be content with places among the substitutes.
In the fiercely contested back-row department, Remy Martin gets the nod at flanker while Imanol Harinordoquy is selected at number eight ahead of Julien Bonnaire, who is on the bench along with fellow back-rower Thierry Dusautoir.
Laporte revealed that Argentina's obduracy in the pack had changed his thinking. "We have gone with five forwards on the bench and only two three-quarters because of the game put in front of us by the Argentinians," said the head coach.
"Cedric covers the wing, Damien Traille fullback and David Skrela the centres. The balance has swung in favour of Cedric because Clement Poitrenaud only occupies one position."
Selection at the base of the scrum was always going to be a sensitive issue, and Yannick Nyanga is the only backrow forward in France's 30-man World Cup party not to make the squad for the opening game. That is despite the galloping Toulouse flanker putting in a man-of-the-match performance in the 22-9 win over England in Marseille last month.
Outhalf Skrela and scrumhalf Mignoni excelled in the Six Nations Championships and keep their places in the team after solid displays in the warm-up matches, and despite the pressure exerted by fit-again duo Michalak and Elissalde.
"It would be wrong to say that the Mignoni-Skrela combination is better than Elissalde-Michalak," added Laporte. "They are at the same level. But Pierre and David have done very well in the preparation matches. They are going to start and we will see what happens after that."
FRANCE (v Argentina, Friday): C Heymans; A Rougerie, Y Jauzion, D Traille, C Dominici; D Skrela, P Mignoni; O Milloud, R Ibanez (capt), P de Villiers; F Pelous, J Thion; S Betsen, R Martin, I Harinordoquy. Replacements: D Szarzewski, J-B Poux, S Chabal, J Bonnaire, T Dusautoir, J-B Elissalde, F Michalak.
