Pelous ruled out as injury cloud hangs over France

THE smile may have returned to French rugby following their mauling of Namibia, but injury concerns are threatening to derail Les Bleus’ plans ahead of their pivotal World Cup clash against Ireland on Friday.

Just when the host nation looked to have got back on their feet following the calamitous opening-night defeat to Argentina, they have been hit by injuries to three of their experienced and first-choice players.

Lock Fabien Pelous has been ruled out of the must-win Pool D match against the Irish with a knee injury he sustained after coming off the bench in the 87-10 win over the Namibians on Sunday.

Captain and hooker Raphael Ibanez received a blow to the throat in the match and, having undergone tests, will be looked at again.

Number eight Imanol Harinordoquy, meanwhile, has dislocated his left thumb and will not take part in any contact training. He should be available for selection for Friday.

The Les Bleus team will be announced this morning.

The injuries have clouded what was a superb return to form by the French in Toulouse.

Maybe it was playing against 14 men for an hour or maybe it was playing away from the pressure-cooker atmosphere of the Stade de France, but the brio returned to Bernard Laporte’s side against the Africans.

The scars of the defeat to Argentina have been partially healed, but Laporte has little time to dwell on the French renaissance, with the qualification decider against stuttering Ireland looming.

With the Irish limping to victories over Namibia and Georgia there is no question who will go into Friday’s crunch game with the wind in their sails, despite France’s new injury concerns.

“With all respect to Namibia, you mustn’t make a comparison —– they weren’t the Argentina team,” said Laporte.

“But we have seen guys in form and playing with enthusiasm. That is important. Each match is a battle for selection when you have a squad of 30.

“We must put things into perspective —– it is Namibia. But the dynamism and enthusiasm before and during the match made me happy.

“That will have to make us think before we decide on the team that will play Ireland.”

Six of the 13 tries scored by Les Bleus were touched down by players who feature for Toulouse in the Top 14. In all, 10 Les Toulousains figured in Sunday’s match, with one of them — Vincent Clerc — probably the star.

The winger, who shone for France in their RBS Six Nations Championship defence earlier this year but was harshly dropped for the Argentina loss, made the most of the space afforded to him and grabbed three tries. He admitted that playing with his club colleagues against the Namibians made the job much easier.

“It was a delight to play with a lot of Toulouse players in Toulouse,” he said.

“I don’t know if there was a ‘Toulouse touch’ but I have played with (full-back) Clement Poitrenaud and (fellow winger) Cedric Heymans for the last five years. You get more of a feeling playing with your friends.”

Clerc, who scored a last-gasp try to secure a memorable win for Les Bleus at Croke Park in February, added: “The World Cup has started for us now ... We want to play in the same way against Ireland — dominate the match and be intelligent.”