Laporte gambles on teenage star
November 14, 2001

French coach Bernard Laporte on Wednesday placed his faith in teenager Frederic Michalak, selecting the 19-year-old for Saturday's one-off Test with world champions Australia.

Michalak, who came on towards the end of last Saturday's 20-10 win over the Springboks to win his first cap, replaces Francois Gelez, who kicked 12 points on his debut against South Africa.

He has won rave reviews for his performances at scrumhalf for his club Toulouse, who he inspired to the French title last season, but is equally at home at flyhalf.

Laporte made one other change to the team, with Cameroon-born Serge Betsen coming in on the flank. Patrick Tabacco moves to No 8 and Francis Ntamack is dropped to the bench.

France: Clement Poitrenaud; Aurelien Rougerie, Damien Traille, Tony Marsh, David Bory; Frederic Michalak, Fabien Galthie (capt); Patrick Tabacco, Olivier Magne, Serge Betsen; Thibault Privat, David Auradou; Pieter De Villiers, Raphael Ibanez, Jean-Jacques Crenca. Substitutes: Yannick Bru, Jean-Baptiste Poux, Lionel Nallet, Francis Ntamack, Francois Gelez, Nicolas Jeanjean, Christophe Dominici. - Sapa

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