Hi °C | Lo °C France head coach Marc Lievremont will have no defence if his team slip up against Ireland in their RBS 6 Nations opener on Saturday after admitting he finally has his best starting XV at his disposal.
Lievremont acknowledged the side chosen to take on the Irish at Croke Park was the strongest he has put out in his 15 months in charge.
With the days of rotation and experimentation over and the injury front relatively clear, it feels like a new dawn for Les Bleus, who have had a hit-and-miss past year under the new coaching team of Lievremont, Emile Ntamack and Didier Retiere.
And Lievremont, who recalled Clement Poitrenaud, Florian Fritz and Lionel Beauxis from the international wilderness, had the look of a content man as he plotted a fifth Six Nations title in eight years for the French.
"The strongest team is always the one you have at that time, because you have to work in the parameters of injuries," said the former France flanker.
"But there are no massive injuries at the moment and for the first time, we have been able to select the team that we wanted. And that is really satisfying. We can especially count on a very competitive bench in the course of the match."
Winger Vincent Clerc, who is still working his way back to full fitness after recovering from a serious knee injury, is maybe the only player Lievremont regrets not being able to call upon for the start of the tournament. However, his backline looks strong enough without the Toulouse flyer.
Graceful full-back Poitrenaud will make his first appearance for France since the 2007 World Cup bronze medal play-off defeat to Argentina, after finding his form for Toulouse.
His club colleague Fritz has to go even further back, to February 2007 and a Six Nations away match against Italy, for his most recent Les Bleus game.
The powerful centre is back to his buccaneering best for the French champions and deserves his call-up.
Stade Francais’ Beauxis has also been unable to turn out for France since the last World Cup because of injury problems but he is now fully fit and is back at number 10.
