France have been forced to make a change to the squad that will face Scotland next month after wing-forward Charles Ollivon was ruled out of the Six Nations opener through injury.
Biarritz flanker Wenceslas Lauret has been drafted in by head coach Philippe Saint-Andre to replace Ollivon, who suffered a recurrence of a shoulder problem playing for Bayonne in their European Rugby Challenge Cup victory over La Rochelle on Saturday. With doctors expecting Ollivon to require at least a fortnight's rest, the 21-year-old was yesterday excluded from France's preparations for the meeting with Scotland in Paris on February 7. Lauret, a big-tackling 25-year-old, has been capped seven times by Les Bleus and made his first Six Nations appearances last year against Wales and Ireland. Saint-Andre's 31-man selection gather on Sunday for a four-day training camp in Canet-en-Roussillon as France seek to recover from a shock 18-13 defeat at home to Argentina at the end of a November Test series in which they also defeated Fiji and Australia. Saint-Andre is under pressure ahead of this year's World Cup, where they will face Ireland, Italy, Canada and Romania, after his inconsistent outfit finished fourth in last year's Six Nations. ends MMMM
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