France rugby union national team centre Mathieu Bastareaud takes part in weight-lifting session. Patrick Kovarik / AFP
France rugby union national team centre Mathieu Bastareaud takes part in weight-lifting session. Patrick Kovarik / AFP
France rugby union national team centre Mathieu Bastareaud takes part in weight-lifting session. Patrick Kovarik / AFP
France rugby union national team centre Mathieu Bastareaud takes part in weight-lifting session. Patrick Kovarik / AFP

'Quiet force' Mathieu Bastareaud to captain France against Wales in Six Nations


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"Quiet force" Mathieu Bastareaud will captain France in their final Six Nations match against Wales on Saturday after Guilhem Guirado was ruled out with a knee injury.

The barnstorming Toulon centre has revelled in French colours since his recall to the national team after a ban and again links up with Geoffrey Doumayrou in midfield.

Guirado's place at hooker is taken by Adrien Pelissie, who will make his debut run-on after four caps as a replacement.

Two other changes by coach Jacques Brunel see Cedate Gomes Sa take the place of Rabah Slimani at tighthead prop, while Gael Fickou starts on the right wing, Benjamin Fall moving to fullback in place of injured Hugo Bonneval, who failed a head injury assessment.

"Guilhem can't play, it would have been too risky," said Brunel of the hooker who was injured in the nail-biting 22-16 victory over England last weekend.

Turning to the 44-time capped Bastareaud, who has been captaining Toulon this season, Brunel said: "For some time he has a sort of serenity which can influence the team.

"He's like a quiet force. We know the weight he can have on the pitch, with or without the ball."

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Don Armand ready to play wherever needed as England face injury crisis ahead of Ireland clash

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In the front row, it will also be a first start for Gomes Sa, who replaces Slimani, who gave away three costly penalties against England by collapsing the scrum.

"I wouldn't say that didn't count, but it's not linked to that," Brunel said.

"We had a debrief with the referees' head [Joel Dume] because we didn't agree with two penalties awarded against Rabah.

"We put too much focus on Rabah Slimani and didn't take into account the positioning of the English and notably the pressure they exerted at the bind, something our captain [Guirado] pointed out at the time."

Fickou sees his energetic cameo role against England pay off with a start, albeit slightly out of position.

"We kept the same set-up in the backline," Brunel said. "Fickou is not in his usual position [of centre] but he pleased us a lot against England."

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Five famous companies founded by teens

There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:

  1. Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate. 
  2. Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc. 
  3. Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway. 
  4. Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
  5. Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
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