NEWPORT, Wales (AP) " France coach Philippe Saint-Andre has recalled flyhalf Morgan Parra and dropped burly center Mathieu Bastareaud for the Rugby World Cup quarterfinal against New Zealand on Saturday, making three changes from the lineup that lost 24-9 to Ireland last weekend.
The loss to Ireland meant that France finished in second place in Pool D, and so faced the All Blacks rather than Argentina at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.
"We're ready for a huge combat against New Zealand, we will need to improve in the rucks and take a lot more individual initiative," Saint-Andre said. "If we want to beat New Zealand we have to play the French way."
That means more emphasis on ball retention, and attack.
"I expect us to have more ball than last week because our set piece wasn't good enough. New Zealand is more organized and we need more ball," Saint-Andre said. "I can't say we didn't have commitment and heart (against Ireland) but we were 70 percent in defense and 30 percent in attack, you can't have this."
The other main change was Bastareaud dropped in favor of Alexandre Dumoulin, while Bernard Le Roux replaced Damien Chouly at No.
8.
Since taking over from Marc Lievremont after the 2011 World Cup, Saint-Andre has earned a reputation for constantly changing his lineup. But he had been remarkably consistent in his selections during this tournament " until now.
Parra, a regular in the team that reached the World Cup final four years ago, replaces Sebastien Tillous-Borde, who has been flyhalf Frederic Michalak's regular halves partner during this tournament.
"Why Morgan? Everyone knows him, he's a great competitor," Saint-Andre said Thursday. "We know that he has leadership qualities."
Tillous-Borde drops out of the squad, with Saint-Andre preferring to have Rory Kockott on the bench as backup because of his kicking ability.
"We weren't happy with our bench against Ireland, they didn't do enough," Saint-Andre said. "We cracked in the last 15 minutes because you can't play a whole match like that defensively."
Despite being only 26, Parra stands to win his 66th test cap " 12 of those in World Cups.
Parra started against New Zealand in the 2011 final, which the All Blacks won 8-7, but started in an unfamiliar role as flyhalf. He was sent to the blood bin early on, came back on and was then ultimately replaced by Francois Trinh-Duc midway through the first half.
Parra, who is a tough tackler despite his relatively small stature, offers France an extra option with his reliable kicking.
With Parra on the field, Saint-Andre effectively has three potential penalty kickers, along with Michalak and fullback Scott Spedding, who usually takes the long-range penalty kicks for France.
Saint-Andre also appears to have given Parra a chance to redeem himself for a sloppy performance when he came on against Ireland last weekend.
Replacing Tillous-Borde in the 55th minute, Parra's handling let him down and he twice knocked on carelessly as France chased the game in the latter stages.
Although Michalak has recovered "100 percent" from a bruised right hand, Saint-Andre has not yet decided who will be his designated kicker from attempts inside 50 meters.
"We haven't quite decided the kickers yet," Saint-Andre said. "We hope we get easy ones this time, because last week they were all from more than 45 meters out."
___
France
Scott Spedding, Noa Nakaitaci, Alexandre Dumoulin, Wesley Fofana, Brice Dulin, Frederic Michalak, Morgan Parra, Louis Picamoles, Bernard Le Roux, Thierry Dusautoir (captain), Yoann Maestri, Yoann Maestri, Pascal Pape, Rabah Slimani, Guilhem Guirado, Eddy Ben Arous.
Reserves: Dimitri Szarzewski, Vincent Debaty, Nicolas Mas, Damien Chouly, Yannick Nyanga, Rory Kockott, Remi Tales, Mathieu Bastareaud.
