12 May 2011

Chabal left out of France World Cup squad

10:41 am on 12 May 2011

The French rugby coach Marc Leivremont has dropped a bombshell by overlooking the veteran number eight Sebastian Chabal from his provisional squad of 32 for the Rugby World Cup.

Long seen as the driving force in the French cap, Chabal is one of the country's most popular players, but he's been dropped purely on form and been replaced by the uncapped Raphael Lakafia from Biarritz.

The veteran centre Yannick Jauzion and fullback Clement Poitrenaud have also missed out on the squad.

The Toulouse flanker Thierry Dusautoir has been retained as captain.