6N: French squad decimated by injury

The injury crisis faced by many French clubs has been well covered in our reviews of the Top 10 in recent weeks, and this has finally had its impact on the national team.

All of the 23 players selected for the game at the Stade des Alpes in Grenoble on 1stFebruary have previous French caps, but six played no part at all in the recent Autumn series.

The list of players missing, either through injury or unavailability for other reasons, is a near who’s who of leading French internationals. Players who willnotbe facing England include: Manon André, Aurelie Bailon, Julie Billes, Elodie Guiglion, Caroline Ladagnous, and captain Marie Alice Yahe.

Yahe was just the latest name to pull out, having only been able to play for the first 40 minutes for Perpignan against Lille on Sunday.

Seven of the surviving squad are from in-form Montpellier – but not Bailon, who is in magnificent form for her club but remains unavailable for the national team, not even attending the national training camp ten days ago.

Overall it is not a poor team by any means, and against virtually any opposition – especially at home – would be confident of victory. But their opponents on the first will be an England team, united, back to full strength and with one or two points to prove.

Interestingly – and unusually – the 23-player squad is only for the England game, instead of being the team for the first two rounds as would normally be the case with back-to-back games. The unspoken assumption is that the FFR are hoping that – given more time to recover - at least some of their missing stars will have recovered. However, Guiglion for one is still in plaster, while the nature of Yahe’s injury is as yet unannounced.

The cause of such a glut of injuries, experienced almost nationwide, can only be guessed it. However it does coincide with the restructuring of the Top 10, with a format that – for many clubs – created a series of must-win high-pressure games, week in, week out, with little room for error. It is certainly noticeable that it is the clubs threatened with relegation (such as Lons and Perpignan) are those that have been worst hit.

And there is still one more weekend of club action to go...

French squad v England, Stade des Alpes de Grenoble, 1stFebruary:

AGRICOLE Sandrine (Rennes)ARRICASTRE Lise (Lons)DENADAI Marine (Montpellier)DIALLO Coumba Tombe (Bobigny)DJOSSOUVI Koumiba (Montpellier)DUVAL Julie (Ovalie Caennaise)EZANNO Hélène (Lille)GRAND Laetitia (Lons)GRASSINEAU Camille (Bordeaux)IZAR Shanon (Lille)KOITA Assa (Bobigny)LEDUFF Christelle (USAP)LIEVRE Marion (Bobigny)MAYANS Marjorie (Saint Orens)MIGNOT Gaëlle (Montpellier)N’DIAYE Safi (Montpellier)PORTARIES Elodie (Montpellier)POUBLAN Elodie (Montpellier)RABIER Sandra (Ovalie Caennaise)RIVOALEN Yanna (Lille)SALLES Laetitia (La Valette)TREMOULIERE Jessy (Romagnat)TRONCY Jennifer (Montpellier)