Easy selecting Ibanez as Cup captain, says Maso

FRANCE team manager Jo Maso insists it was an “easy” decision to make Raphael Ibanez captain for the World Cup campaign.

Maso announced on Monday the Wasps hooker would skipper Les Bleus for the showpiece being held on French soil this autumn.

Ibanez was preferred to Fabien Pelous, who has been France’s regular captain since 2004 but who has struggled with injury in recent seasons.