Rugby
Nick Said, Special to ESPN 7y

France trio sit out training ahead of third Test

Rugby

France have injury concerns to three players ahead of Saturday's third Test against South Africa, but are hopeful all will be available as they seek a consolation win at Ellis Park in Johannesburg.

Hooker Camille Chat, wing Yoann Huget and loose-forward Louis Picamoles all sat out training on Tuesday, but none have so far been ruled out of the weekend clash.

Chat is suffering from a foot problem, while Huget has a cut inside his mouth and Picamoles took a knock to his knee.

France have remained in Durban to train ahead of the third Test, hoping to shake off defeats in the first two games by a combined 45 points, a sign of how off the pace they have been in this series.

Despite losing 37-15 on Saturday, coach Guy Noves thought his side gave the Springboks a bigger contest than the first test loss in Pretoria.

"We have conceded 37 points twice and we need to work in the coming months to compete more regularly with this kind of rugby nation," Noves told reporters.

"I think the score is a little hard - we made mistakes that cost us 14 points. We improved in the second half, having lost a lot of possession in the rucks during the opening half.

"It was more balanced with a real improvement from the low level we had last week [in Pretoria]."

Noves will announce his team for the third test on Thursday.

Only once before, in 1975, has South Africa completed a clean-sweep of test wins over France at home in series that have contained two or more matches.

^ Back to Top ^