Pelous, Yachvili named as French double act

FRANCE will try to make up for the absence of injured Fabien Galthie with a Lansdowne Road double act — Fabien Pelous taking over as captain and Dimitri Yachvili as playmaker for Saturday’s Six Nations game against Ireland.

“Fabien will captain the side in Dublin but Dimitri will be in charge of leading our play,” coach Bernard Laporte said yesterday as the French assembled for a week of training in Marcoussis, south of Paris.

“To lose a player such as Fabien Galthie is a real blow but one has to look at the good side of things,” said coach Bernard Laporte yesterday. “I prefer to have to do without him now than during the World Cup. Dimitri will certainly learn a lot in Dublin.”