France coach Philippe Saint-Andre has left out fly-half Francois Trinh-Ducfrom his 31-man World Cup squad, in favour of Frederic Michalak.

Leigh Halfpenny says Wales will carry their Twickenham "hurt" of last season into tomorrow night’s RBS 6 Nations opener against England.

Rising star Teddy Thomas has been dropped for tomorrow’s Test against Argentina by France manager Philippe Saint-Andre for missing a training session by arriving two hours late.

IF THIS was supposed to be a step up in class, then the British & Irish Lions coped with it admirably. They met fire with fire, kept their try-line intact for the first time on tour and strode majestically forward towards next week’s first Test at the same venue.

GORDON D’ARCY’s slim Lions prospects were eliminated yesterday when head coach Ian McGeechan confirmed he would not be calling up a replacement for the injured Tom Shanklin.