Monday 5 November 2012 16:21, UK
France coach Aurelien Cologni insists that England forward Gareth Ellis should not have escaped suspension for his tackle on Cyril Stacul.
In addition to Stacul, back rower Gregory Mounis is out with a dislocated shoulder and prop Mickael Simon will miss the clash with a chest injury. Cologni has called up Carcassonne centre Teddy Sadaiou and Catalan prop Julien Bousquet, while back-rower Andrew Bentley was also initially drafted in but will now not be available after picking up a suspension playing for Lezignan. In contrast, McNamara has no injury worries and is set to pick from a full-strength 24-man squad, although he will check on the fitness of Wigan loose forward Sean O'Loughlin, who missed Saturday's game with a hamstring strain. "We've another clean bill of health, which is credit to the conditioning and medical staff and a little bit of fortune," McNamara said. "We had some tough decisions to make last week and we'll look at it again when we get back into camp. "It's a good position to be in. We'll be going with our strongest team this week, as has been our policy throughout last year and this in terms of trying to keep that continuity and some consistency. "It doesn't mean to say we won't make a change or two if it's deemed necessary but it seems to be working for us at the minute."
