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Page last updated at 12:35 GMT, Thursday, 4 February 2010

Bastareaud recalled for France's Six Nations opener

RBS Six Nations: Scotland v France
Venue: Murrayfield Date: Sunday, 7 February Kick-off: 1500 GMT
Coverage: BBC One, HD, Red Button, Sport website, BBC Radio Scotland and 5 live sports extra
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Mathieu Bastareaud
Bastareaud has been recalled for the Six Nations opener

France centre Mathieu Bastareaud has been recalled and winger Benjamin Fall will make his Six Nations debut against Scotland at Murrayfield on Sunday.

Bastareaud regains his place after lying about being assaulted in New Zealand in June.

Coach Marc Lievremont has made a total of nine changes to the side which defeated South Africa last November.

Full-back Clement Poitrenaud, wing Aurelien Rougerie and flanker Fulgence Ouedraogo also return to the side.

Five of the changes have been forced by the suspension of scrum-half Julien Dupuy and injuries to full-back Damien Traille, centre Maxime Mermoz, lock Romain Millo-Chluski and prop Fabien Barcella.

Morgan Parra is the half-back partner for Francois Trinh-Duc, with Poitrenaud returning at full-back and Bastareaud partnering the experienced Yannick Jauzion at centre.

Pascal Pape joins former captain Lionel Nallet in the second row, with Sebastien Chabal also forced out with a back injury.

The experienced Nicolas Mas retuns at tight-head prop.

Centre Yann David, wings Cedric Heymans and Vincent Clerc and number eight Louis Picamoles have all been dropped.

Lievremont said he was confident Bastareaud would seize the chance to redeem himself in the national side.

"Mathieu called himself into question. We hope that what happened a few months ago helped him to grow up," he said.

Lievremont was forced to shuffle his replacements on Thursday when scrum-half Jean-Baptiste Elissalde pulled out of the squad with soreness in his calf.

His spot on the bench has been filled by Toulouse team-mate Frederic Michalak.

"I felt a pain in training on Wednesday which didn't seem too bad, and I thought it was just a bit tight," said Elissalde.

"But when I woke up this morning, I had trouble walking, [and] tests revealed a tear."


France: Clement Poitrenaud (Toulouse); Benjamin Fall (Bayonne), Mathieu Bastareaud (Stade Francais), Yannick Jauzion (Toulouse), Aurelien Rougerie (Clermont Auvergne); Francois Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), Morgan Parra (Clermont); Thomas Domingo (Clermont), William Servat (Toulouse), Nicolas Mas (Perpignan), Lionel Nallet (Racing-Metro), Pascal Pape (Stade Francais), Thierry Dusautoir (Toulouse, capt), Fulgence Ouedraogo (Montpellier), Imanol Harinordoquy (Biarritz).
Replacements: Dimitri Szarzewski (Stade Francais), Luc Ducalcon (Castres), Julien Pierre (Clermont), Julien Bonnaire (Clermont), Frederic Michalak (Toulouse), David Marty (Perpignan), Vincent Clerc (Toulouse).



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see also
Scotland 9-18 France
07 Feb 10 |  Rugby Union
Blunt Scotland frustrate Robinson
07 Feb 10 |  Scottish
Proud to wear the Scotland shirt
04 Feb 10 |  Scottish
Centre Bastareaud axed by France
28 Oct 09 |  Rugby Union
Bastareaud punished over claims
28 Sep 09 |  Rugby Union
Bastareaud retracts assault story
25 Jun 09 |  Rugby Union
New Zealand 14-10 France
20 Jun 09 |  Rugby Union


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