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France recall Picamoles and Nakaitaci for Ireland clash

By Julien Pretot CARDIFF (Reuters) - Number eight Louis Picamoles and wing Noa Nakaitaci return to the France side for their Rugby World Cup Pool D decider against Ireland on Sunday as the only changes to the team who beat Canada in their previous outing. The powerful Picamoles, who replaces Bernard Le Roux in the back row, was rested by coach Philippe Saint-Andre for the 41-18 win against Canada but is seen as key to French hopes of targeting Ireland playmaker Johnny Sexton. Nakaitaci returns in place of Remy Grosso, while Damien Chouly switches to openside flanker to make way for Picamoles at number eight. Picamoles, along with captain Thierry Dusautoir, is tasked with giving Ireland flyhalf Sexton a rough ride at the Millennium Stadium as the French seek to build on the momentum of their opening three victories. Saint-Andre has tinkered with various halfback pairings since he took over from Marc Lievremont after the 2011 World Cup, but there were no surprises for Sunday as he stuck with Sebastien Tillous Borde and Frederic Michalak at scrumhalf and flyhalf respectively. “It’s a pair who have been working well. We beat England, Scotland, Italy and Canada with them,” he told a news conference. Scrumhalf Morgan Parra, who has impressed on each of his appearances at this World Cup, will start on the bench again. “With Morgan coming on late into the game, I have the possibility to have another world-class kicker on the field,” Saint-Andre said. “There has been no hesitation (on the line-up), even if there could be a debate on the wings,” he added. The former France captain, who “never lost against Ireland as a player”, added that he picked Brice Dulin on the wing to add to France's counter-attacking options. “Brice is a good player, he knows the drill, he’s been with us since the start of the journey,” Saint-Andre said. “Ireland are a team who kick the ball a lot in attacking positions, they score a lot of points thanks to their up-and-under kicks and their wiper kicks. So having two players who are originally fullbacks (Dulin and Scott Spedding) gives us more chances to counter-attack.” Though both Ireland and France have already qualified for the quarter-finals, the losers of Sunday's game are likely to face holders New Zealand in the first round of the knockout stage. Team: 1-Eddy Ben Arous, 2-Guilhem Guirado, 3-Rabah Slimani, 4- Pascal Pape, 5-Yoann Maestri, 6-Thierry Dusautoir (captain), 7- Damien Chouly, 8-Louis Picamoles; 9-Sebastien Tillous-Borde, 10-Frederic Michalak, 11-Brice Dulin, 12-Wesley Fofana, 13-Mathieu Bastareaud, 14-Noa Nakaitaci, 15-Scott Spedding Replacements: 16-Benjamin Kayser, 17-Vincent Debaty, 18-Nicolas Mas, 19-Alexandre Flanquart, 20-Bernard Le Roux, 21-Morgan Parra, 22- Remi Tales, 23-Alexandre Dumoulin (Editing by David Goodman)