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Les musulmans de France s'organisentUn important congrès s'ouvre demain à Lille
La communauté musulmane de France se réunit, dès demain, à Lille dans le Nord de l'Hexagone, en Congrès pour discuter des problèmes qu'elle rencontre.Selon un membre d'une association algérienne à Paris, cette rencontre permettra aux associations musulmanes de discuter de leurs problèmes, de leur avenir et surtout de se présenter en alternative au débat lancé par la Droite français au pouvoir sur l'Islam en France.Cette occasion sera saisie, selon notre interlocuteur, par les associations algériennes afin de se rencontrer et de se rassembler. «Nous avons l'ambition de rassembler la communauté algérienne, notamment dans son volet cultuel», a affirmé ce responsable, contacté hier par téléphone. Il s'agit, selon lui, de soutenir l'action de la Mosquée de Paris dans ses efforts de rassembler une communauté qui a déjà souffert des affres de la division et des dissensions.Pour la première fois depuis l'indépendance, cette rencontre verra la présence de plusieurs associations cultuelles algériennes de plusieurs autres pays d'Europe. «La rencontre aura une dimension européenne», selon notre interlocuteur qui se félicite de ce rapprochement entre les membres de notre communauté.Il faut dire que la Mosquée de Paris a commencé à subir des pressions depuis plusieurs années de la part d'associations proches d'autres pays, notamment le Maroc et certains pays du Golfe. Ces derniers tentent, avec tous les moyens, d'exercer leur contrôle sur l'activité cultuelle, culturelle, et parfois même politique, sur la communauté musulmane de France, évaluée à près de 5 millions d'individus, dont une majorité d'Algériens.Gérée par Dalil Boubekeur, d'origine algérienne, la mosquée de Paris est la première institution musulmane de France. Elle perdu tout contrôle –ou presque- sur les associations et lieux de culte gérés par les Algériens. «Nous avons rétabli le crédit de cette mosquée au sein de notre communauté», témoigne un membre de l'association qui gère la mosquée, contacté par téléphone. Selon lui, les malentendus ont été levés.La mosquée de Paris entend servir de passerelle entre les membres de la communauté algérienne en France. Elle va aider et contrôler plusieurs autres associations de l'Hexagone pour les encadrer, mais également pour faire barrage «à tous les extrémistes» qui tentent souvent de récupérer ces lieux de culte.Malgré sa forte communauté en France, l'Algérie ne contrôle plus que la mosquée de Paris, qu'elle finance en partie. Le conseil français pour le culte musulman, crée en 2005 par Nicolas Sarkozy, est contrôlé par des dirigeants d'origine marocaine. Ces derniers maitrisent également des centaines de lieux de culte et approvisionnent les mosquées en imams. Outre l'aide qu'elle apporte à l'association de la mosquée de Paris, l'Algérie forme et envoie des imams en France, notamment à l'occasion du mois de Ramadhan. Dernièrement, le ministre délégué chargé de la communauté nationale à l'étranger, Halim Benatallah avait gelé l'aide de 10 millions d'Euros que l'Algérie devait donner pour la construction de la grande mosquée de Marseille, au sud de la France. Cette décision a été prise suite à l'apparition de zones d'ombres dans la gestion de ce chantier.A préciser qu'en vertu de la Loi de 1901 séparant la religion de l'Etat, la France ne subventionne pas directement les lieux de culte. Le financement se fait à partir de donations d'Etats étrangers ou de fidèles. Les municipalités se limitent, le plus souvent, à l'attribution de permis de construire.
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Labels: France, musulmans, sorganisent

RBS Six Nations: England v France
Venue: Twickenham Date: Saturday, 26 February Kick-off: 1700 GMT
Coverage: Watch on BBC One, BBC HD channel, Red Button and BBC Sport website; post-match forum 1900-1930; listen on BBC Radio 5 live & online; text commentary on BBC Sport website and mobiles

Sebastien Chabal, Vincent Clerc, Dimitri Yachvili and Yannick Jauzion are recalled while Maxime Medard switches from wing to full-back.

Medard replaces Clement Poitrenaud, who drops to the bench with Damien Traille.

Morgan Parra and Julien Bonnaire are also omitted for the eagerly awaited meeting between the two remaining teams with 100% records in the competition.

Meanwhile France defensive coach Dave Ellis has revealed that plans have been devised to stop wing Chris Ashton, who scored four tries as England thrashed Italy 59-13 last time out.

Ashton, who began his rugby career in league with Wigan Warriors before switching codes to join Northampton in 2007, also scored twice in the opening Six Nations match against Wales but Ellis told the Daily Telegraph: "Ashton can be stopped.

"We used to stop [former England winger] Jason Robinson from scoring. You've just got to make sure that he doesn't get the ball when he wants it.

"It's not just about closing one man down. If you concentrate on doing that, then it only takes away your focus from elsewhere.

Former London Irish defensive coach Ellis, who now also advises Gloucester on defensive policies, added: "First and foremost, you've got to stop giving England decent ball.

"Italy gave them far too much. They just let them play. They were allowed to play at their own tempo. We won't let them do that."

France: Maxime Medard; Yoann Huget, Aurelien Rougerie, Yannick Jauzion, Vincent Clerc; Francois Trinh-Duc, Dimitri Yachvili; Thomas Domingo, William Servat, Nicolas Mas, Julien Pierre, Lionel Nallet, Thierry Dusautoir (captain), Sebastien Chabal, Imanol Harinordoquy.

Replacements: Clement Poitrenaud, Guilhem Guirado, Sylvain Marconnet, Jerome Thion, Morgan Parra, Julien Bonnaire, Damien Traille.

Labels: changes, England, France

And then there were two. The second round of the Six Nations finished in Dublin with only France and England left to dream of a grand slam after a pulsating 80 minutes in which the French just squeezed home.

France lost the try count three to one but a couple of old heads saw them and Le Crunch at Twickenham in two weeks looks even more mouthwatering. Ireland, who head to Murrayfield hoping they might still have a say in the championship, were vastly improved compared to their display in Rome, but they have now beaten France only once in 10 matches.

After a lacklustre autumn and that feeble victory over Italy, Ireland promised fire and brimstone from the start. But no one really expected them to be seven points up within five minutes, with France barely getting a sniff. Brian O'Driscoll played a perfect runaround with Jonathan Sexton from a Paul O'Connell lineout take and Luke Fitzgerald was in at the corner in under two minutes – only for the referee, Dave Pearson, to spot a forward pass.

It looked as though France would weather the storm. They even tried to run the ball off the back of the subsequent scrum, but after Yoann Huget and Damien Traille got the move off to a smooth start but the full-back, Clément Poitrenaud, dropped the ball. A ball bouncing free five metres out was just what Ireland fancied and the wing Fergus McFadden went over close enough to the posts to make Sexton's conversion easy.

Ireland even won a penalty off the France scrum – Nicolas Mas being adjudged to have dropped it – to wipe out a penalty for offside that had been kicked by Morgan Parra. But then the first signs of a French fightback began to show. Fast hands put Huget up the right, Maxime Médard sent Poitrenaud up the left and Parra kicked a couple of penalties to make it 10-9. The French pack then got a nudge on for the first time, Donncha O'Callaghan was caught not rolling away and the Parra kicked his fourth penalty to put France in the lead for the first time, after 26 minutes.

Ireland bounced back and within 10 minutes their scrum-half, Tomás O'Leary, who had been a real doubt with back spasms, and the prop Mike Ross threw themselves at the line. The French held out against the short-range battering and when Sexton fumbled it appeared that an overlap on the left might have been wasted. But O'Leary was on hand a second time, the scrum-half scrambling to the line with Mas clinging to his back to give Ireland a three-point half-time lead.

Parra pulled that back when the centre Gordon D'Arcy was caught failing to release in the tackle, but exasperation in the French camp was becoming more obvious as the replacements warmed up. One more front-row indiscretion saw the prop Thomas Domingo, a hero last week when Scotland were pushed all over Paris, replaced by Sylvain Marconnet and another veteran, Vincent Clerc, came on for the erratic Poitrenaud.

Fingers are often pointed when Marc Lièvremont empties his bench, but this time the travelling French got some reward for their head coach's tinkering. Barely had Dimitri Yachvili replaced Parra at scrum-half than France had scored their first and only try, a simple affair off the back of a solid scrum. The ball went right, Aurélien Rougerie battered a hole in the Irish defence and Médard cruised up on the outside for a score that Yachvili converted with ease.

The Biarritz scrum half missed with a long-range penalty but then landed a more difficult shot from wide on the right. All of a sudden the French had a 10-point lead, with 18 minutes to go.

Again, Ireland came back. Declan Kidney threw on the veteran fly-half Ronan O'Gara and the new chemistry brought immediate rewards, if not necessarily in the way intended. O'Gara's 67th-minute chip looked to be going nowhere but David Wallace did what a good flanker does and cleaned up, leaving the No8 Jamie Heaslip with a dive for the corner.

The theatre continued with O'Gara, Ireland's saviour in Rome, converting the try with the help of the left upright, but this time there was no rabbit to be plucked from the hat.

Labels: France, Guardian, Ireland, muchimproved, Nations

“These days players across the world are as big and as powerful as each other. We’ve all got access to gyms and conditioners. There’s no real difference between the teams.”

Lamont is wrong of course. And right. Right because, self-evidently, the size of the gene pool doesn’t influence the results of international matches in the way that it did a generation or so ago; because Wales, Ireland, Scotland and Italy, with fewer players to choose from, can now, on the back of specialist nutritional advice and a load of weights, churn out individuals who tip the scales with, and stand as tall as, the best of the rest.

But wrong because Lamont’s answer ignores the way France go about their rugby, which, at its finest, is an explosive combination of very powerful men running fast at pockets of unguarded space. It is the Holy Grail of modern Test rugby, and no one, not even New Zealand, does it as well as France when they are up for it.

In recent seasons, it has come with a twist. France have always done big and direct. From the brutish and bullying Gerard Cholley and Jean-Pierre Bastiat, down through Marc Cécillon, and onto the likes of Fabien Pelous, a succession of French coaches have reasoned that a good big ’un will marmalise a good little ’un. Current boss Marc Lièvremont is no different.

He also is of the opinion that size matters, only Lièvremont has shifted the big is beautiful philosophy from the pack to a specific area of the backs.

When Ireland take on France in the Aviva Stadium this afternoon they will encounter a midfield of Damien Traille, switched from full-back to centre because of an injury to Maxime Mermoz, and Aurélien Rougerie, who are a stone and a half heavier and five inches taller than their oppos, Gordon D’Arcy and Brian O’Driscoll.

Rougerie and Traille, at 16st 5lb each, are heavier than three of the French forwards, and taller, at 6ft 4in, than six of them. This is not a one-off. Last season Lièvremont selected Mathieu Bastareaud who is six-foot tall and 17st 4lb, while Yannick Jauzion, on the bench this afternoon for France, has been an ever-present at 6ft 4in and 16st 7lb.

It’s not as if Rougerie and Traille are just big lumps either. Rougerie, having spent much of his career on the wing, has gas, and, as his deft poke through for France’s opening score against Scotland demonstrated, can manipulate a rugby ball with his feet. Traille, no slouch himself, has started at outside half as well as full-back and centre for France in his 78-cap career. These guys can play.

That’s Ireland’s first job. Stop the French midfield from operating and you start to stop France, because they are at their most dangerous when their big men get in behind the tacklers and are able to offload to support runners flooding the holes close in. That’s the benefit of being tall and heavy on attack. It allows you to ride over or through the collisions, freeing up a hand to distribute. In defence the additional weight on impact can dislodge the ball, forcing turnovers.

Ireland play it differently. If their run-out against Italy is anything to go by, they will attempt to bewilder France with the variety of their offence.

Ireland weren’t very good against Italy. There were far too many unforced errors by D’Arcy in particular, but they are more of a play-book side than France, more reliant on choreographed decoys and deceptive running lines involving the back three. France thump in midfield.

Ireland, led by the majestic O’Driscoll, aim to obfuscate, to fix or wrong-foot defenders by confusion. Pull Traille and Rougerie out of their defensive channels and they fall off tackles. It’s not quite beauty against the beast, but almost.

The other big difference between the two sides is at the scrummage. France can. Ireland can’t. Again, size is the issue here. France were a stone a man lighter than Scotland up front yet forced a penalty try from Scottish inadequacies, damaging Euan Murray’s reputation for competence into the bargain. Against Ireland, France are just half a stone lighter but they still expect to dominate that area. Less weight, more go-forward. It doesn’t make sense.

Except that it does when you take account of the fact that French oomph is channelled through a front row which houses a freak of a forward.

At a vertically challenged 5ft 8in, Thomas Domingo, the French loosehead prop, is the Six Nations’ little big man. His diminutive stature is a virtue because taller opponents find it almost impossible to get underneath him to shunt him backwards. Nicolas Mas, Domingo’s mate on the tight head, is also smallish for a modern prop.

At 5ft 11in, he completes a squat trio which, when the front rows engage, naturally thrusts up and against taller opponents. Trying to get low in the stance to meet them head on, which is what Murray tried to do, means shifting your feet further back away from the hips which in turn makes you vulnerable to collapse. Ireland could be in real trouble here this afternoon.

Mike Ross is six inches taller than Domingo, a massive discrepancy. With the International Rugby Board keen to address the mess of collapses and resets polluting Test rugby, English referee Dave Pearson is honour bound to reward the dominant scrum.

So, a game of intriguing contrasts, of petit French props and huge centres against big Irish props and little centres. They may not be the only issues around which the game turns. The French mood generally, the return of the excellent Jamie Heaslip and the fact that Ireland won’t be as diffident as they were in Rome may affect the result. But in an age where the top teams are all much of a muchness, it is rather satisfying to anticipate genuine points of difference.

Labels: France, French, hopes, Ireland, lifted, little, Nations, Telegraphcouk

Scotland arrive in Paris for the RBS Six Nations clash with few tipping them to feature in the title race - despite six wins in their past seven Tests.

And with France among the favourites to lift the Six Nations title - having won the Grand Slam in 2010 - Parra believes his side cannot afford to take anything for granted.

"Scotland are both an ideal adversary and also one that could lure us into a trap," said the Clermont scrum-half.

"It is a team which likes to play which is something that one rarely gets in the Six Nations, a team which has nothing to lose against France.

"The worry is that in wanting to quickly get the crowd on our side by playing free-flowing rugby and trying all sorts of things we will be hit on the counter-attack."

Parra will partner the recalled Francois Trinh-Duc at half-back for the clash at the Stade de France.

That means Damien Traille moves to full-back, with Maxime Mermoz partnering Aurelien Rougerie in the centres and Maxime Medard named on the wing.

In the pack, Imanol Harinordoquy and Julien Bonnaire will join captain Thierry Dusautoir in the back row, while Lionel Nallet returns from injury to start in the second row.

Scotland fly-half Dan Parks is determined to spoil the French party on Saturday.

Although France won the Grand Slam last year, they have lost three of their five Tests since then.

And Parks believes Scotland can continue their fine form with a first win in Paris since 1999.

"It's an exciting time," said Parks.

"It's the start of a fresh championship and we're on the back of some good performances in the last couple of outings.

"It's a very tough place to go, but it's a great place to go.

"It's a really great stadium to play in. The French people are going to get right behind their team.

"We're going to hopefully spoil that party - that's our plan, to go there and impose ourselves on the match.

"If you can get on top of a team early in a game that gives you great confidence and diminishes their's."

Coach Andy Robinson has made five changes, three of which are personnel, for the trip to Paris.

Nick De Luca, Max Evans and new captain Alastair Kellock come into the starting XV, while Nathan Hines moves to blindside and Kelly Brown starts at No.8.

France: 15 Damien Traille, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Aurelien Rougerie, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Maxime Medard, 10 Francois Thrinh-Duc, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 5 Lionel Nallet, 4 Julien Pierre, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 William Servat, 1 Thomas Domingo.
Replacements: 16 Guilhem Guirado, 17 Luc Ducalcon, 18 Jerome Thion, 19 Sebastien Chabal, 20 Dimitri Yachvili, 21 Clement Poitrenaud, 22 Vincent Clerc.

Scotland: 15 Hugo Southwell , 14 Nikki Walker, 13 Joe Ansbro, 12 Nick De Luca, 11 Max Evans, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Rory Lawson, 8 Kelly Brown, 7 John Barclay, 6 Nathan Hines, 5 Alastair Kellock (c), 4 Richie Gray, 3 Euan Murray,2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements: 16 Dougie Hall, 17 Moray Low, 18 Richie Vernon, 19 Ross Rennie, 20 Mike Blair, 21 Ruaridh Jackson, 22 Sean Lamont.

Labels: France, Scotland, SkySports, Teams

Scotland could hardly have been presented with a tougher start to their 2011 Six Nations Championship campaign than travelling to Paris for a meeting with the French. Yet there have been enough demonstrations in the past of the Scots rising to the challenge, when confronted with the might of Les Bleus and here we highlight five famous victories, both at Murrayfield and on Gallic soil.

1986: Scotland 18-17 France

The hosts handed debuts to six players, including the now-legendary figures of Gavin and Scott Hastings, Finlay Calder and David Sole and, oblivious to the visitors scoring an early touchdown through their redoubtable scrum-half, Pierre Berbizier, Gavin Hastings recovered from a torrid baptism to kick six penalties and ensure that his side repelled the challenge of powerful opponents, for whom Philippe Sella also secured a touchdown.

"It was a memorable experience and the crowd helped us in the closing stages," recalls Gavin, who enjoyed a number of successes against France.

1990: Scotland 21-0 France

This was the second of the Scots' four triumphs, en route to the Grand Slam, but they struggled to reach these exalted standards during a tepid first half and led just 3-0 at the interval, courtesy of a Hastings penalty.

However, with the French flanker, Alain Carminati, being sent off early in the second period, the hosts capitalised on their numerical advantage and gradually, inexorably, turned the screw as their rivals tired.

Finlay Calder seized a try - emulating the feat of his brother, Jim, who crossed against France during the 1984 Grand Slam success - as the prelude to Craig Chalmers slotting the conversion and doing likewise when Iwan Tukalo applied the coup de grace with the game's second touchdown.

The Scots eventually finished as comfortable winners and subsequently beat Ireland in Dublin and England in Edinburgh to gain their hallowed prize.

1995: France 21-23 Scotland

The Scots hadn't won in Paris for 26 years and seemed to be slipping to yet another close-fought defeat as the clock ticked down towards the denouement. But suddenly, almost out of nowhere, Gregor Townsend produced his now-famous "Toony Flip", caught the French entirely off their guard, and unleashed Gavin Hastings for a clear run to the line as the sprinkling of Scots inside the Parc des Princes screamed themselves hoarse.

Hastings' try only levelled the scores and the Watsonians full-back had to compose himself to kick the conversion. But when he did, it sparked a marvellous evening of celebrations and Gavin joked later that he was just glad there were finally colour pictures of Scotland succeeding in Paris.

1999: France 22-36 Scotland

This was one of the most glorious afternoons in the history of Scottish rugby: an occasion when the visitors ran in tries from all areas of the Stade de France with such joie de vivre that even the home support could scarce forbear to cheer.

They shrugged off the concession of a first-minute touchdown for Thomas Castaignede and subsequently ripped through their opponents to score five tries in a mesmerising opening half. Martin Leslie notched two of these, as did the tough-as-teak Scotland centre, Alan Tait, and Gregor Townsend also dazzled on a glorious spring day in Paris.

It was 33-22 at the interval and although the match quietened down thereafter, Kenny Logan added a penalty to ensure there would be no recovery from the hosts. "We wanted to play a wide game, the sort of game they used to such good effect against us at Murrayfield last year," said the winning captain, Gary Armstrong. "It worked and we cut through them like a knife through butter." And, with Wales beating England 24 hours later, the Scots won the last-ever Five Nations title.

2006: Scotland 20-16 France

In advance, the visitors to Murrayfield had been red-hot favourites to lift the Six Nations, but France were brought crashing back to earth through a combination of Scottish flair and brawny panache and their own mistakes.

At one stage, the home side, bolstered by two fine tries from their winger, Sean Lamont, led by 20-3, with the likes of Dan Parks and Mike Blair providing sterling contributions. The Scotland supporters were left biting their nails towards the end, with Julien Bonnaire and Sebastien Bruno both scoring tries to reduce the deficit, as their pack's pressure finally reaped dividends.

However, Frank Hadden's men retained their composure to gain their first win over the French in Edinburgh for a decade and the coach later chastised: "those who are still mud-slinging at Dan Parks" and told them to “have a look at themselves.”

Labels: France, rugby, Scottish, stvtv