Fabien Galthie will captain a full strength French lineup in Sunday’s rugby World Cup quarterfinal against Ireland at Melbourne.
France, losing finalist at the 1999 World Cup, capped an undefeated run in the Pool B preliminaries when a second-string XV beat the United States 41-14 at Wollongong on the weekend.
Galthie and other leading players, including hooker Raphael Ibanez and 21-year-old flyhalf Frederic Michalak, were rested for that match.
Ireland lost 17-16 to Australia in Melbourne last weekend, finishing second to the defending world champions in Pool A with three wins from four matches.
”The mood is very good and very relaxed. However, having seen (Ireland) play so well it has given us a little edge in training because the Irish are at the top of their form,” said Michalak, the tournament’s leading scorer so far with 78 points.
Michalak said he didn’t feel any more pressure ahead of a quarterfinal than he would preparing for any test match. Ireland won the last head-to-head 15-12 at Dublin in August and finished above the French in the Six Nations championship.
Ireland is ”playing great rugby and they’re going to be very confident coming off the Australia game because they played so well,” said Michalak. ”They’ve got some great players like (Brian) O’Driscoll and Keith Wood who will need more attention than others.”
The Irish squad was expected to be announced on Wednesday.
France: Nicolas Brusque; Aurelien Rougerie, Tony Marsh, Yannick Jauzion, Christophe Dominici; Frederic Michalak, Fabien Galthie (captain); Jean-Jacques Crenca, Raphael Ibanez, Sylvain Marconnet, Fabien Pelous, Jerome Thion, Serge Betsen, Olivier Magne, Imanol Harinordoquy.
Replacements: Yannick Bru, Olivier Millou, Olivier Brouzet, Patrick Tabacco, Gerald Merceron, Brian Liebenberg, Pepito Elhorga. – Sapa-AP