Mermoz to miss France opener

France will be missing centre Maxime Mermoz for their opening Pool A match of Rugby World Cup 2011 against Japan on 10 September.

Perpignan's Mermoz will not take part in training before the start of next week and will miss out on France's opener at North Harbour Stadium, although he should be fit for their second match against Canada eight days later in Napier.

However, head coach Marc Lièvremont will have two of his other injured players available. "(William) Servat didn't play the last two games against Ireland, but he's ready to play," he said. "(Fabien) Barcella played and, even if he's not at 100 per cent yet, he's doing better day after day."

Lièvremont was joined by manager Jo Maso and captain Thierry Dusautoir for France's first press conference on a rainy and windy Thursday afternoon in Takapuna, a calm and residential suburb near Auckland's bay just 15 minutes from the city centre.

However, even after travelling for more than 30 hours and suffering from jetlag ahead of their second training session of the day, Lièvremont, Maso and Dusautoir still looked fresh and well.

"I slept from 22:00 to 05:00, just having a one-hour break," the head coach said with a smile on his face, while the captain of Les Bleus added there was "no break for me... I had a complete night and slept until 07:00."

Lièvremont prepared

But Lièvremont admitted he will now have to wait 48 hours to ensure that every player is fit before organising more intensive training sessions. Therefore, it appears France will get down to some serious business at the weekend, before the team is announced for their match against Japan.

The majority of the squad cannot wait to get started, as confirmed by Imanol Harinordoquy, who said: "We all know how things work. We are 30 and there are only 23 names on the match sheet. But, of course, everyone wants to play the first match."

France will be favourites to beat the Japanese and, while Lièvremont said he "would have a hard time giving you players' names" and also admitted he is "not a specialist of the Japanese league", the head coach has "been studying them since June", so believes his starting XV will be well prepared for their opening match.

He would not say any more about the game, although it is likely Lièvremont already knows the composition of his starting XV.

Coach focused

Most rugby union fans are already anticipating the Eden Park match between New Zealand and Les Bleus on 24 September.

However, even if "it is obviously in a part of our heads", as Toulon winger Alexis Palisson admitted, Lièvremont does not want to look too far ahead.

"We have two games to play against two teams (Japan and Canada) we should be able to beat," he said. "We have to gather momentum, manage our team correctly, so that everyone is in top form for the matches against the All Blacks and Tonga."