New France boss Lievremont rings changes

MARC LIEVREMONT didn’t take long to usher in a new dawn in French rugby yesterday by naming six uncapped players in a much-changed squad for the Six Nations Championship opener against Scotland.

Lievremont’s first squad announcement of his tenure raised a few eyebrows, with props Julien Brugnaut and Lionel Faure, lock Arnaud Mela, scrum-half Morgan Parra, fly-half Francois Trinh-Duc and winger Julien Malzieu all receiving first call-ups.

Just as surprising were the names left out, including World Cup participants Sebastien Chabal, Pierre Mignoni, Jerome Thion, Clement Poitrenaud and David Marty.