AUCKLAND, Oct 21 (Reuters) – Persistence has paid off for
Damien Traille after the French utility back was named in Marc
Lievremont’s squad for the rugby World Cup final on Sunday
against New Zealand.

The 32-year-old had all-but given up hope of playing a role
in the final after he was dropped following France’s 37-17 pool
stage loss to the All Blacks.

AUCKLAND, Oct 21 (Reuters) – While the full 15-a-side rugby
game will be making no appearance at the Olympics any time soon,
its biggest names will one day be challenging for gold, but in
the Sevens version, International Olympic Committee President
Jacques Rogge said on Friday.

Rugby returns to the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 –
its first appearance since 1924 — as the Sevens version rather
than the full-blown affair.

AUCKLAND (Reuters) – The International Olympic Committee is disappointed by the decision to allow 400 meters champion LaShawn Merritt to run at the London 2012 Games — and will seek an amendment to their overturned rules, president Jacques Rogge said on Friday.

The IOC had ruled that every athlete sanctioned for more than six months for a doping offence, would not be eligible to participate in the next Olympic Games.

AUCKLAND, Oct 21 (Reuters) – The International Olympic
Committee is disappointed by the decision to allow 400 metres
champion LaShawn Merritt to run at the London 2012 Games — and
will seek an amendment to their overturned rules, president
Jacques Rogge said on Friday.

The IOC had ruled that every athlete sanctioned for more
than six months for a doping offence, would not be eligible to
participate in the next Olympic Games.

AUCKLAND (Reuters) – As the eldest of eight children, Marc Lievremont’s robust style in coaching the French rugby squad should perhaps surprise nobody.

His four-year reign has been seasoned by a no-nonsense, authoritarian manner — never more so than when he has felt ‘Les Bleus’ have let him down.

AUCKLAND, Oct 20 (Reuters) – As the eldest of eight
children, Marc Lievremont’s robust style in coaching the French
rugby squad should perhaps surprise nobody.

His four-year reign has been seasoned by a no-nonsense,
authoritarian manner — never more so than when he has felt ‘Les
Bleus’ have let him down.

AUCKLAND (Reuters) – The battle lines have been drawn, the weapons selected, and now the French rugby team have thrown up a Gallic siege wall ahead of Sunday’s World Cup final against New Zealand.

The French are sure to face a ferocious onslaught from an All Blacks side backed by a New Zealand public desperate to win the World Cup after 24 barren years.

AUCKLAND, Oct 20 (Reuters) – The battle lines have been
drawn, the weapons selected, and now the French rugby team have
thrown up a Gallic siege wall ahead of Sunday’s World Cup final
against New Zealand.

The French are sure to face a ferocious onslaught from an
All Blacks side backed by a New Zealand public desperate to win
the World Cup after 24 barren years.

AUCKLAND, Oct 19 (Reuters) – With just one match remaining
of Marc Lievremont’s tenure as French national rugby coach,
there were signs on Wednesday of a thaw in relations between the
coach and his players.

Somehow, despite a World Cup campaign beset by bickering,
in-fighting and public disagreements, the French have reached
the showpiece match against the All Blacks on Sunday.

AUCKLAND (Reuters) – Unpredictable to the end, a smiling Marc Lievremont on Wednesday named an unchanged French starting line-up to face New Zealand in Sunday’s rugby World Cup final — his last match in charge of Les Bleus.

Having built a reputation as a coach who constantly tinkers with team selections, Lievremont uncharacteristically kept faith with the 15 players who started when France beat Wales 9-8 in the semi-finals.