Jalibert returns to France squad for Argentina test

PARIS, Nov 15 : France have recalled flyhalf Matthieu Jalibert to the 42-man squad for Saturday's Nations Championship test against Argentina, which will help ease an injury crisis for the team.

Jalibert hurt his quadriceps in French Top 14 rugby in September and suffered a further setback in training last month but has been passed fit to play for France, who employed captain Antoine Dupont at flyhalf and interchanged him with scrumhalf Maxime Lucu as they edged South Africa 21-19 in Paris on Friday.

The innovative tactical ploy, which was seen as a gamble but ultimately proved successful, was necessitated by an injury crisis in the pivot position.

Jalibert, Thomas Ramos and Antoine Hastoy all missed the November tests, and Romain Ntamack dislocated his left shoulder in the first half of the victory over Fiji in Lyon on November 7.

(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Louise Heavens)