French rugby side weakened for N.Z. tour

Press, 26 April 1979, Page 44

French rugby side weakened for N.Z. tour

By

JOHN BROOKS

Napoleon once said, “impossible isn’t French.” and the members of the Tricolours team will pin their faith to that quote as they chase the elusive Gallic rugby victory against the All Blacks in Christchurch and Auckland in Julv.

The reason is that severa notable players will bi missing from the 25-stron; French side which will star its eight-match tour of Nev Zealand at Blenheim on Jun 20 They include the out standing No. 8. Jean-Pierrc Bastiat, whose “gammy’ knees have probably finisher his rugby career, Jean Francois Imbernon, a solic slab of a lock, who is injured, and foui internationals who declarec theselves unavailable — Alain Paco. the vastly experienced hooker, and the t h r e e-quarters Francois Sangalli, Jean-Francois Gourdon and Christian Belascain. With these withdrawals coming on top of the recent disappearance from the national scene of such redoubtable figures as Gerard Cholley and Michel Palmie, the French have been left with a thin thread of experience running through a side of which almost half the members will be new to top level rugby. The brilliant flanker and captain, Jean-Pierre Rives, has vowed to restore the Gallic flair to the Tricolours, and in players such as Serge Bianco, the lively full-back from Biarritz. he has footballers capable ol emulating the dashing deeds of the Boniface brothers anc

Jo Maso and Jean-Pierre Lux, of previous French) i sides in New Zealand. ■ But it will be a difficult .'task to bring this promise to full flower in the course of I such a limited tour. I Eleven members of the touring party are uncapped .and another seven have i played in five or fewer tests. I Only five players were in the team which drew the ) 1977 test series against the All Blacks in France, butl I nine members of the party) ! have been promoted from the French B team which scored an historic 31-18 win: I against Wales B ini 'Aberavon last year. . The touring team, which I was announced in Toulouse, i contains the most capped • French back, Roland IBertranne, who played against the All Blacks for his country in both 1973 and J 1977, and has accumulated

41 caps. Others who know the All Blacks well are the long-serving full-back, JeanMichel Aguirre, who has 24 caps, and the tough, mobile tight-head prop, Robert Paparemborde, who has scored seven tries in tests.

Rives, the blond flanker who has been hailed as the best in the world in his position, is keen to confront the All Blacks at international level. He missed the 1977 series because of injury. Another member of the side who is certain to trouble New Zealand is Jerome Gallion, the scrumhalf. After a splendid game for a French selection at Lyons against the 1977 All Blacks, he became the test scrum-half early in 1978 and scored a try in each of his first three tests. The selectors have obviously looked for players with ability in more than one position in casting about for new men. Michel Duffranc, who is 22, can play at centre or wing and the strong-running Blanco can play on the wing as well as full-back. Jean-Luc Joinel, who played blind-side flanker against the All Blacks in Toulouse, has been experimented with as a No. 8 at club level, and one of the locks, Patrick Salas, can also play at tight-head prop. Another prop, Daniel Dubroca, is as versatile as Wilson Whineray — he can switch from the front row to No. 8 with ease. The French have made two previous tours of New Zealand —in 1961 and 1968

— without winning a test match. They lost all three on each occasion. Although there is undoubted brilliance in the 1979 side, the large number of new men argues against a change of fortunes in July. The team is:—

Full-backs: J-M ( Aguirre (Bagneres), S. Blanco (Biarritz). Wings: D. Bustaffa (Carcassonne), J-L. Averous (La jvoulte) ,F. Costes (Montferrand). Centres: R. Bertranne (Bagneres), M. Duffrano (Tyrosse), D. Codornious (Narbonne).

Fly-halves: A. Caussade (Lourdes), G. Laporte (Graulhet). Scrum-halves: J. Gallion (Toulon), Y. Laffarge (Montferrand).

Back row: Y. Malguier (Narbonne).

Side row: J-L. Joinel ( B r i v e ), J-P. Rives (Toulouse), C. Beguerie (Agen).

Locks: A. Maleig (Oloron), P. Salas (Narbonne), F. Haget (Biarritz), J-F. Marchal (Lourdes).

Props: C. Coiomine (Narbonne), D. Dubroca (Agen), R. Paparemborde (Pau). Hookers: P. Dintrans (Tarbes).l J-F. Perche (Boug).