Lievremont To Stick To Rotation Policy After Wales

The French then scored two tries to lead 23-13 with seven minutes to go before holding off a fierce late Welsh onslaught.

France will stick to their rotation policy for the next Six Nations game against England despite their thrilling 21-16 win over Wales on Friday.

"Will it be more painful or easier to discard some players after such a win? I don't know but there will be a rotation," coach Marc Lievremont told reporters on Saturday.

"At the risk of shocking you and displeasing the players, who have already been informed, our logic of functioning goes beyond this 23-man squad, win or lose," he added.

"I thought about several changes before the Wales match and decided to go for it whatever the result and the performance of the players and I think I'll stick to it.

Lievremont refused to name the players he would discard when he announces his squad for the England game on March 15 at Twickenham on Wednesday.

However, his assistant in charge of the back line Emile Natmack mentioned Toulouse centre Florian Fritz, who was suspended for three weeks after the first game of the championship against Ireland and replaced by Benoit Baby and Mathieu Bastareaud against Scotland and Wales.

"I'm talking about Florian because he is the most obvious case but there are several players among the Six Nations 30-man squad who deserve to come back after injuries and maybe three or four outside the squad," Ntamack said.

CONSISTENCY

Lievremont said his team had "worked a small miracle and certainly produced a great performance against a magnificent Welsh side" to win the first championship match played on a Friday.

The Welsh seemed on their way to their eighth consecutive win in the Six Nations when they took a 13-3 lead in the 24th minute after fullback Lee Byrne sliced through the French backline and ran over from 40 metres.

"That was the crucial moment of the game," Lievremont said. "We didn't collapse. We stayed in the game despite having two tries cancelled and hitting the post twice."

The French then scored two tries to lead 23-13 with seven minutes to go before holding off a fierce late Welsh onslaught.

"The commitment of the players was total and it was a great tactical performance," Lievremont said.

"Now we have to move on. Our win was quite a feat but we are not working to produce such a performance every six or eight games when we have our back to the wall.

"French teams have done so often in the past and I haven't forgotten our defeat to Ireland and our sluggish win over Scotland. What we are looking for now is consistency. We want to be respected as a team that can win the Six Nations not as an unpredictable outsider."