Parra poised to take over kicking duty for France

Scrum-half Yachvili took a knock on his thigh in the quarter-final win over England and is still not 100 per cent.

It seems unlikely France will risk aggravating his injury by allowing him to kick on Saturday.

“We have been trying to rest him this week,” said French kicking coach Gonzalo Quesada. “He needs to be 100 per cent – that is the objective.

“Without going into too much detail, he is still in a certain amount of pain and the muscle affected is the one he would use to kick.

“In terms of where it is hurting, it is the muscle which is used the very moment you kick... which is a very explosive gesture. You can burst the fibres if you have not properly healed.

“It certainly didn’t help that he was kicking last week against England after he had injured his thigh.”

Yachvili had said on Wednesday that there was a risk he would not kick, and on Thursday team mate Parra said he was ready to step up.

“Kicking is an extra pressure in itself but I am already used to it at club level,” said the Clermont Auvergne player.

“I have done it during this tournament and so if I have to kick I will.

“I started practising my kicking again this week to back Dimitri up in case he cannot.

“We have experienced issues like this in the past... really it is up to him – he’ll have to decide whether or not he wants to kick.”

Parra took over kicking duties against England when Yachvili left the pitch.

During France’s World Cup group stage win over Canada, Parra slotted five penalties and four conversions.

Imanol Harinordoquy has urged France not to panic when they come up against Wales’ all-action style of rugby.

Les Bleus have beaten Wales nine times in the countries’ last 11 meetings.

But veteran No 8 Harinordoquy has been around long enough to know past form counts for very little when the stakes are so high.

“The Wales players are agile and very skilful,” said the Biarritz star. “They have good footwork and their forwards are very brave as well.

“We can analyse their games from video, but once the game is on the field, that is where the problem starts.

“We will have to be able to face the challenge. Sometimes we will have to put up with their attacks. We cannot panic.

“If they play free, that is when they are the most dangerous.”