Bastareaud handed France reprieve

Controversial centre Mathieu Bastareaud has been recalled to the France squad for the 2010 RBS 6 Nations Championship.

The Stade Francais player caused a diplomatic stir when he claimed he had been attacked following a night out in Wellington on France’s tour to New Zealand last summer when, in fact, he sustained a suspected broken eye socket and needed four stitches in his cheek after a drunken fall in his hotel room.