Noves hedges bets on his star parade

He seems to be at odds with his former club coach but was quick to douse the sparks of speculation.

Maestri‚ who will break his long association with Toulouse to join La Rochelle next season‚ made it clear that he was not annoyed to be selected for what amounts to a France B-side.

He added the French team did not belong to anybody.

Trinh-Duc who has 61 caps came on for just five minutes in France’s 38-18 defeat at the hands of the All Blacks‚ also seems to operate primarily in the coach’s peripherals.

Noves has already announced an enforced change to his squad with prop Sebastien Taofifenua replacing the injured Raphael Chaume.

The latter made his debut against the All Blacks‚ while the former could follow him into Test rugby this weekend.

Taufifenua featured for the French Barbarians against the New Zealand Maori last Friday.

Whoever the French push into battle on Saturday‚ the Springboks cannot afford to take them lightly.

All Blacks coach Steve Hansen paid the Tricolores a huge complement last week‚ and he’s not always this generous.

“France are the best team in the world now on offloads‚” the coach said last week. — DDC