Michalak to swim with the Sharks

France fly-half Frederic Michalak is to leave Toulouse for the Durban-based Sharks in South Africa at the end of the current French Championship season.

Laporte names squad for Italy

France coach Bernard Laporte has recalled Clément Poitrenaud, Sébastien Chabal and David Skrela to the France squad for next Saturday's Six Nations opener against Italy in Rome.

Traille's tribulations at fly-half

France will head into the 2007 Rugby World Cup as one of the favourites, but detractors believe coach Bernard Laporte is missing a vital piece of the puzzle. Les Bleus are blessed with quality and depth in almost every position, except - it seems - at number ten.

'We won't bow to blackmail'

The much-publicised stand-off between the French and English in the Heineken Cup boycott row took another intriguing twist on Thursday when England's Rugby Football Union (RFU) accused the French clubs of using "blackmail".

In with the old and new for France

France head coach Bernard Laporte has included four uncapped players in his 40-man squad for the annual Six Nations Championship, which begins next month against Italy on February 3, followed by another tough away game in Ireland.