TNT Sports
France look abroad
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Published 24/11/2004 at 17:37 GMT
For the first time in French rugby history, two foreign-born centres in Brian Liebenberg and Tony Marsh will start a test against a major nation when they take the field against New Zealand on Saturday. South Africa-born Liebenberg and New Zealand-born Marsh have played together once before..
Eurosport
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..in an international against Canada, last July.
"Against Canada, we were on tour and (coach) Bernard Laporte was resting most of the players who had played the 2003 World Cup and won a grand slam in the 2004 Six Nations," he said after being named in the French starting line-up on Wednesday.
"This time, it's for real. It's against the All Blacks. I'm most honoured and my motivation will be increased tenfold. It's a great challenge."
France coach Bernard Laporte said on Wednesday he was counting on Liebenberg for his positional kicking.
"We need Brian's field kicking to help Frederic (Michalak) because it's not his strong point at the moment," he said.
The pairing of Marsh and Liebenberg means Yannick Jauzion, who was named France's France's international player of the year, drops to the bench but Liebenberg denied that their selection was "an insult to French flair".
"Tony and myself are more French than the players we face every week in the French championship. The best proof is that we always speak French on and off the field", he added.
When he left South Africa, Liebenberg initially played in Italy in Piacenza.
"REGULATOR"
He crossed the Alps in 2000 to join Grenoble before moving to the Paris Stade Francais club where he helped win the 2003 French championship under Nick Mallett, a former Springbok coach.
A bulldozing inside centre -- he stands 1.88 metres tall and weighs 106 kg -- he won the first of his nine caps as a replacement in a friendly against Romania in August 2003. His first full cap came a month later when France were crushed 45-14 by England at Twickenham just before the World Cup.
He was a member of France's World Cup squad but only started one game when Laporte decided to rest his first XV against the United States in their last group game.
He also came on during the third-place play off against New Zealand as a replacement for Tony Marsh.
The 32-year-old New Zealander has made 20 appearances for France since he was drafted in by coach Bernard Laporte in November 2001 as soon as he qualified after a compulsory three-year period of residency.
He immediately helped France to clinch back-to-back wins over the Springboks and the Wallabies and was a key member of the team who won the Six Nations grand slam in 2002.
Laporte has always regarded him as "the regulator" of the French backline and always kept faith in him even when he had to undergo chemotherapy for testicular cancer during the 2002-2003 season.
He had barely recovered when Laporte named him in his World Cup squad and handled him a start in nearly all the games until the semi-final loss to England.
On his return from Australia, he missed the entire European season through an Achilles strain and shoulder injuries but Laporte recalled him as soon as he was available for a tour to the United States and Canada in July.
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