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Thursday, October 11, 2007

Betsen takes place in France team


Serge Betsen
Betsen was in the stands for most of France's win over the All Blacks
Serge Betsen has been named in France's team for the World Cup semi-final against England despite suffering a head injury in the quarter-final.

The flanker lasted just five minutes against New Zealand before sustaining a heavy blow to the back of his head.

Coach Bernard Laporte has named the same starting XV and replacements who featured against the All Blacks for Saturday's game with England.

Prop Olivier Milloud, who hurt his neck against New Zealand, is fit to play.

One of the biggest issues was who should start at fly-half - Lionel Beauxis, who has started the last two games, Frederic Michalak, who turned the game against New Zealand after coming on as a replacement, or David Skrela.

But Laporte admitted it would have been hard to make any changes to the team that beat the tournament favourites in such thrilling fashion in the quarter-final.

"All the players gave us satisfaction against New Zealand and that made it very difficult for us to take somebody out," he said.

Laporte insisted Betsen was completely fit to play, despite having looked extremely groggy as he was helped from the pitch in Cardiff.

"He's passed all the medical tests. If we'd had the slightest doubt, we wouldn't have picked Serge," he said.

Saturday's game at the Stade de France will be the fourth time the teams have played one another this year.

England won the Six Nations encounter at Twickenham 26-18, but France won both pre-tournament warm-up encounters, 21-15 at Twickenham and 22-9 in France.

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