Wales v France, Rugby World Cup, October 15, 2011
Yachvili fit to face Wales
ESPNscrum Staff
October 14, 2011

Scrum-half Dimitri Yachvili is set to start for France in their World Cup semi-final against Wales on Saturday after overcoming a thigh injury.

Yachvili suffered a dead leg in the quarter-final victory over England last weekend and faced a race to be fit for this weekend's clash with Wales in Auckland. But he has been passed fit for the match, although fellow half-back Morgan Parra will take over the kicking duties for France.

France make two other changes to the make-up of their squad. Uncapped half-back Jean Marc Doussain retains his place among the replacements having been called up as cover for Yachvili with David Marty dropping out of the matchday squad.

Meanwhile, Montpellier flanker Fulgence Ouedraogo takes the place of Louis Picamoles on the bench.

"Well, if Jean-Marc is here then it is no coincidence," Lievremont said of Doussain's selection. "I have great faith in him. If Dimitri were to be injured I would have had to move Morgan to nine and that would have changed everything.

"As for Fulgence, it was the quality of the Welsh game that led to me selecting him. He is an impact player."

France: Maxime Medard; Vincent Clerc, Aurelien Rougerie, Maxime Mermoz, Alexis Palisson; Morgan Parra, Dimitri Yachvili; Jean-Baptiste Poux, William Servat, Nicolas Mas; Pascal Pape, Lionel Nallet; Thierry Dusautoir (capt), Julien Bonnaire, Imanol Harinordoquy.

Replacements: Dimitri Szarzewski, Fabien Barcella, Julien Pierre, Fulgence Ouedraogo, Francois Trinh-Duc, Jean-Marc Doussain, Cedric Heymans.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

Live Sports

Communication error please reload the page.