Betsen hands France fitness boost

Flanker Serge Betsen has provided a huge boost for France by declaring himself fit for Saturday's World Cup semi-final against England.

Betsen was replaced after only five minutes of his country's quarter-final win over New Zealand last Saturday when he took a blow to the back of his head.

But he said: "The pain was a lot less on Sunday and everything is now fine."

Prop Olivier Milloud, who missed the second half against the All Blacks with a neck injury, has also recovered.

It should mean that Les Bleus, who at one stage had injury concerns over 10 players, will have a fully fit squad to choose from for the Paris showdown.

Key players who received minor injuries last weekend, such as Yannick Jauzion (eye), Vincent Clerc (back) and Jerome Thion (thigh), should all train as normal this week.

Scrum-half Pierre Mignoni missed the quarter-final with a thigh injury, suffered during France's final Pool D game against Georgia a week and a half ago.

There were fears he would have to leave the squad, possibly to be replaced by Dimitri Yachvili, but the prognosis on the Clermont-Auvergne number nine is positive and he is expected to train in the next few days.

France will name their team on Wednesday for the semi-final clash.

Source: BBC Sport