Maso dismisses England win

France team manager Jo Maso does not believe England’s crushing victory over Wales will have an influence on his team’s clash with the world champions at Twickenham on Saturday.

Brian Ashton’s men ran out 62-5 winners in the opening match of their World Cup preparations helped by four tries from number eight Nick Easter.

But with the Welsh fielding a weakened team for the friendly encounter Maso is not overly concerned by the form shown by the English.

“We saw a determined team, England, and a team playing within themselves, Wales,” he said.

“If tomorrow they had to play an official match, it would not be the same game.”

Despite the crushing victory, England are set to retain only four players that started the Wales clash, with scrum-half Shaun Perry and forwards Andrew Sheridan, Mark Regan and Simon Shaw all keeping their places.

Conspicuous by their absence are Easter and fly-half Jonny Wilkinson, who kicked 17 points against the Welsh.

Maso added: “We rediscovered a more workmanlike Jonny Wilkinson than in the Six Nations. He rediscovered the qualities which make him an exceptional player.”

The French are set to name their starting XV on Friday with possible recalls for Frederik Michalak and Fabien Pelous, who were named in a 22-man squad yesterday.

Pelous is expected to come straight back into the side after an injury lay-off of nine months while Michalak’s return is by no means a certainty.

But Maso admitted there are still places up for grabs in the team that will begin their quest for the Webb Ellis trophy on September 7 against Argentina.

“In our head, we are sure of certain players. But we have a group with players who are as good as one another, and it is necessary to continue putting pressure on them,” the manager said.

“And then we have an opportunity of using players if we want to adapt to our opponent or adapt our game.

“The team was defined a long time ago, but we will name it on September 4.”

One man hoping to be in that World Cup squad is prop Sylvain Marconnet.

The 31-year-old is still trying to get fit after breaking his left fibia while skiing in March, and while Maso would like to see him in the side he is not willing to risk a player who is not fully fit.

“The mistake would be to play him again too early, but also too late,” Maso said.

“We have to see how he progresses. It would be heartbreaking if he was not able to help us in this World Cup because he is doing everything to be with us.

“We would prefer a player at 100%, even if he lacks certain qualities, like being able to play on both sides of the scrum (as Marconnet can).

“But if Sylvain is at 60% or 80%, it is better to have someone else who can bring us more, like Nicolas Mas.”

Marconnet is not included in the squad to face England this weekend.