Laporte names French captain for RWC 2007


By Le Coq
July 6 2007

France coach Bernard Laporte has named Raphael Ibanez as captain for the 2007 World Cup … four years after the Wasps hooker quit international rugby. It's a remarkable comeback for the player, who says his Guinness Premiership club deserves some of the credit for the honour of being named skipper.

FRA (small)Ibanez was captain when France finished runners-up in 1999, before handing over to Fabien Pelous. He quit the international game after the 2003 World Cup.

Ibanez came out of international retirement when he joined Wasps in 2005, and took the captaincy during the 2007 Six Nations when Pelous was forced out through injury.The hooker, who has now won 90 caps, was captain for the 34th time when France won the title in Paris in March.Without Pelous still struggling with injury, Laporte wanted to name hios captain early so help ease preparations for the tournament and Ibanez told guinnesspremiership.com: "The fact that I have been selected to captain my country at this World Cup is a reflection of how good Wasps are at getting the best out of their players -- even if those players are French!"Personally, I feel immensely honoured. I also know I have been handed a huge responsibility, especially as France are the hosts of this World Cup, but I think I am ready to give my best to this team and this role."I feel very proud for my family and friends, and for my club, Wasps as well.”Ibanez and his team-mates have high hopes for the tournament and he added: This is the third World Cup I will have been involved in, and I believe this is one of the best French squads I've been part of. The potential is there. We have a good variety of players in the squad, and that is important: we have players with great physical strength, with speed, with experience and with enthusiasm."It will be interesting to see how the coaches will combine the different types of players, as I know they don't want to use the same combinations of players for every match. The aim is to have a squad that can adapt to each game."