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PARIS - France recalled Sebastien Chabal on Sunday for their Six Nations match against England but lost Sylvain Marconnet to a serious skiing injury.
Team press officer Lionel Rossigneux said the Stade Francais prop "suffered a double fracture of the shinbone and the fibula.
"He will need surgery. He is out until the end of the Six Nations and could be sidelined for up to four months," he added.
Marconnet, 30, is France's most capped prop with 71 appearances. His replacement by veteran Pieter de Villiers is the main change in the 22-man squad for next Sunday's match at Twickenham.
Coach Bernard Laporte has mainly rotated the players who took part in France's wins over Italy, Ireland and Wales in their first three games of the championship.
The French coach recalled replacement hooker Sebastien Bruno and No 8 Chabal, who both play club rugby in England with Sale Sharks.
Also back are lock Pascal Pape and wing Cedric Heymans. Out are hooker Benoit August, lock Gregory Lamboley, No 8 Elvis Vermeulen and wing Aurelien Rougerie.
Laporte is due to name his starting line-up on Wednesday. After testing Pierre Mignoni at halfback, he has already said he would give a start to Dimitri Yachvili, who was relegated to the bench for the first three games.
The 32-cap Yachvili had been regarded as France's number one halfback since the 2003 World Cup.
He acquired the nickname "Scourge of England" when he scored 19, 18 and 16 points in France's three wins over the world champions in their last Six Nations encounters.
Squad:
Forwards: Raphael Ibanez, Sebastien Bruno, Olivier Milloud, Nicolas Mas, Pieter de Villiers, Lionel Nallet, Pascal Pape, Jerome Thion, Serge Betsen, Julien Bonnaire, Imanol Harinordoquy, Sebastien Chabal
Backs: Pierre Mignoni, Dimitri Yachvili, David Skrela, Lionel Beauxis, Yannick Jauzion, David Marty, Christophe Dominici, Vincent Clerc, Cedric Heymans, Clement Poitrenaud.
- REUTERS
