Laporte names France side to face Argentina

Argentina's forward power has forced France head coach Bernard Laporte into making some "painful" decisions in selecting his starting line-up for Friday's World Cup opener at the Stade de France.

Fear of the Pumas' notorious pack has seen Laporte name five forwards on the replacements' bench, and that in turn has impacted on his selection in the backs.

Cedric Heymans, a winger by trade, was named at full-back in place of Toulouse colleague Clement Poitrenaud, who was thought to be a shoo-in at number 15 but cannot even make the bench for the tournament curtain-raiser in Paris.

Heymans has been picked thanks to both his strong showing at full-back in the recent 34-7 win over Wales and his ability to cover a number of positions in the back-line, something that out-and-out number 15 Poitrenaud cannot do.

Laporte's faith in the versatility of David Skrela and Damien Traille, both picked in the starting XV, explains the shortage of backs on the bench.

Skrela and Pierre Mignoni will start as the half-back combination, meaning Toulouse pair Jean-Baptiste Elissalde and Frederic Michalak have to be content with places among the substitutes.

In the fiercely contested back-row department, Remy Martin gets the nod at flanker while Imanol Harinordoquy is selected at number eight ahead of Julien Bonnaire, who is on the bench along with fellow back-rower Thierry Dusautoir.