Lièvremont's tough decisions

France coach Marc Lièvremont has clearly had some difficult choices to make.

France coach Marc Lièvremont has clearly had some difficult choices to make. Heading into the most important match of his coaching career, he was torn between his ambition to give a fair chance to the new, exciting youngsters in his squad and taking the safe option of relying on his more experienced players.

“This is not a summary of what we saw in the tournament. That would mean a selection and the best team. I refuse to make that kind of assertion,” Lièvremont told lesite.

“It was very difficult to leave out certain players who played well last weekend. It is not the best team, just a very good and maybe a more experienced team compared to the first four matches.

“We decided before the match against Italy to have another look at players who had left the group like Dusautoir, Clerc or Elissalde.

“Considering what they've produced since the start of the tournament, it was legitimate that they came back for this last match.

“That said, with regards to the team itself, we wanted to simply choose what in our eyes was the best team possible to win in Cardiff.”

Les Bleus struggled against Italy in the contest situations, but the French coaching staff have stuck with the same starting tight five.

“It could be a subject for debate, but in the hooker position for example, Dimitri Szarzewski has been the spearhead of our pack with Lionel Nallet since the start of the tournament,” explained Lièvremont.

“Because there has been some incertainty we've wanted more stability in that area. It's also the reason why we kept Jérôme Thion rather than Arnaud Mela even if we still expect more from Jérôme.”

Another small surprise was leaving Elvis Vermeulen on the bench rather than starting at number eight.

“There was a lot of discussion in that regard. We preferred the massive work rate of Fulgence Ouedraogo [with Julien Bonnaire starting at number eight],” he said.

“He's an openside flanker who is omnipresent in support in defence and attack, he provides the link in our game.

“The quality of the Welsh loose-forwards also weighed against a bit of power.

“Even if we've lack density in the scrum and mauls, we've always found solutions to trouble the opposition defences, but we're also counting on Elvis's power in the course of the match.”

So how will the French take on the Welsh at home?

“It's out of the question to let them have the ball, above all because that's not our state of mind … letting them run it in a stadium at fever pitch and supporting them, is the path to defeat.”

The last time France played at the Millennium Stadium, they beat the All Blacks in that famous World Cup quarter-final. Lièvremont believes the atmosphere in the stadium can be used to their advantage.

“We've already spoken to the players. As much as it's fantastic to play in front of a crowd that are behind you, it can be super to play in a hostile stadium.

“It's a very exciting challenge to meet, something wonderful is in preparation,” he said.