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Bashed France centre heading home

22/06/2009 06:42:21 PM Comments (0)

France have turned their focus to Saturday's rugby Test against the Wallabies after farewelling bashed centre Mathieu Bastareaud, who has departed for Paris.

Bastareaud was attacked on the streets of Wellington following France's 14-10 loss to the All Blacks last weekend but has been cleared of serious injury.

"There is bruising about the eye, but to be in a fight like that was a big fright for him," France assistant coach Emile Ntamack told reporters in Sydney on Monday.

"His mind is not ready to come back into the squad and play another game next Saturday.

"His injuries are not very important. He hasn't broken any bones, but in the mind ...

"He's a young player, only 20 years old, so maybe he needs time to come back. He is upset, yes.

"It was just bad luck for him. It was late at night, he came back to the hotel and there was a group of maybe five people.

"I think they were drunk."

French team spokesman Lionel Rossigneux said the player had spoken to New Zealand police but couldn't describe his attackers.

"He's fine. The scan didn't show anything," Rossigneux told AAP on Monday.

"It's just four stitches and a black eye.

"Yesterday he was shocked. His main concern is he wants to finish this tour and go home."

Ntamack refused to blame the New Zealand public at large for the incident, mindful of playing a diplomatic role ahead of the 2011 World Cup.

"I don't want to see a problem between Les Bleus and the New Zealand All Blacks and the New Zealand public," he said.

"It's just a bad incident. He hasn't broken a bone or something like that.

"In rugby you have some stupid people (fans)."

Ntamack says Saturday's one-off Test at ANZ Stadium will provide young five-eighth Francois Trinh-Duc with an opportunity to measure his development against a world-class opponent like Matt Giteau.

"When you play against the best player you can have, when you play against Matt Giteau, you can compare your position and his position and what you must learn again to be better," Ntamack said.

France split their two-Test series against the injury-depleted All Blacks and come to Australia with a point to prove after losing three times last year to the Wallabies.

"Maybe the Wallabies team is better than the New Zealand team for the moment," Ntamack said.

"Last year we had a lot of young players because the French championship was not over.

"This year it is different. We have the best players we can have."

Trinh-Duc, who made his Test debut in 2008, says playing against the All Blacks has fast-tracked his development.

But he says Giteau has "no weaknesses".

"He is one of the best No.10s in the world. He plays equally well kicking and ball in hand, very cleverly," he said.

"We want to impose our game and find again a kind of French flair.

"The coach (Marc Lievremont) asks us to be more ambitious on the field. The national pleasure is really in the art, of the spirit in the team right now."

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