Julien Dupuy will play at scrum-half for France on Sunday against England.
Julien Dupuy will play at scrum-half for France on Sunday against England.

Philippe Saint-Andre relishes France's 'Le Crunch' test



The experienced half-backs Morgan Parra and Francois Trinh-Duc have paid the price for their inability to get France's attacking game moving by being dropped for the game against England.

Philippe Saint-Andre, the France coach, has opted to play Julien Dupuy at scrum-half and Lionel Beauxis at fly-half in the Six Nations encounter at the Stade de France on Sunday.

He said the fact they used to play together at club level will help the pair settle in quickly.

"It's a coherent choice. They've been used to playing with each other at Stade Francais," Saint-Andre said. "Lionel's been in the squad from the outset. It's a change of strategy.

"We've struggled at the start of games, to get out of our own 20 meters. We need a long kicking game to counter the English."

The 26-year-old Beauxis has been in fine form for Toulouse, and is likely to take the kicking duties against England, even though Dupuy is also a recognised penalty kicker. Beauxis kicked all of France's points when they lost 14-9 to England in the 2007 Rugby World Cup semi-final.

Dupuy, 28 and with seven previous caps, has not played for France since a 39-12 defeat to New Zealand in November 2009. A 23-week ban for eye gouging while playing for Stade in the European Cup then stalled his return to the national set-up.

The Beauxis, 26, last played for France in 2009 when they suffered a 27-6 defeat in Australia. He is set to earn his 19th cap.

Saint-Andre made no other changes from the team that rallied from a 17-6 half-time deficit to draw 17-17 last weekend.

Aurelien Rougerie, the centre, was tipped to lose his place after giving away a try against Ireland with an intercepted pass, but he keeps his spot. He started the tournament well with a dominant performance, capped by a try, in the 30-12 win against Italy, but had a poor game in the 23-17 win away to Scotland and his telegraphed pass across the line gave Tommy Bowe an easy first try for Ireland.

Maxime Mermoz, who played alongside Rougerie in the World Cup final defeat to New Zealand last year, was touted to replace him, but Saint-Andre has decided to give Rougerie another chance.

"It's tough on Maxime. His attitude has been irreproachable," Saint-Andre said.

The game, nicknamed "Le Crunch" in the media, will be the 95th meeting between the historical rivals, a fixture Saint-Andre believes surpasses all notion of just being about sport.

"A France v England match isn't just about rugby. A lot of people might only watch one rugby match a year, and that match will be France v England," he said.

"It's all about fight, discipline and commitment throughout 80 minutes and then at the end we shake hands like gentlemen.

"The '"Crunch" has a very special flavour, and it's even more special when you win it so we'll be doing everything we can to make sure we finish with smiles on our faces and shake hands with a 'good game', and hopefully a win, at the end."

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Rating: 3.5/5

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Director: Alfonso Cuaron 

Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville 

Rating: 4/5

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Name: Almnssa
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MATCH INFO

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Red card: Rodrigo Bentancur (Juventus)

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If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.

The Facility’s Versatility

Between the start of the 2020 IPL on September 20, and the end of the Pakistan Super League this coming Thursday, the Zayed Cricket Stadium has had an unprecedented amount of traffic.
Never before has a ground in this country – or perhaps anywhere in the world – had such a volume of major-match cricket.
And yet scoring has remained high, and Abu Dhabi has seen some classic encounters in every format of the game.
 
October 18, IPL, Kolkata Knight Riders tied with Sunrisers Hyderabad
The two playoff-chasing sides put on 163 apiece, before Kolkata went on to win the Super Over
 
January 8, ODI, UAE beat Ireland by six wickets
A century by CP Rizwan underpinned one of UAE’s greatest ever wins, as they chased 270 to win with an over to spare
 
February 6, T10, Northern Warriors beat Delhi Bulls by eight wickets
The final of the T10 was chiefly memorable for a ferocious over of fast bowling from Fidel Edwards to Nicholas Pooran
 
March 14, Test, Afghanistan beat Zimbabwe by six wickets
Eleven wickets for Rashid Khan, 1,305 runs scored in five days, and a last session finish
 
June 17, PSL, Islamabad United beat Peshawar Zalmi by 15 runs
Usman Khawaja scored a hundred as Islamabad posted the highest score ever by a Pakistan team in T20 cricket

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2. Prayer

3. Hajj

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5. Zakat 

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The Ashes

Results
First Test, Brisbane: Australia won by 10 wickets
Second Test, Adelaide: Australia won by 120 runs
Third Test, Perth: Australia won by an innings and 41 runs
Fourth Test: Melbourne: Drawn
Fifth Test: Australia won by an innings and 123 runs

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Kanguva
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Name: Peter Dicce

Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics

Favourite sport: soccer

Favourite team: Bayern Munich

Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer

Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates 

 


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