Thierry Dusautoir out of France squad to play England

France captain Thierry Dusautoir has been ruled out of Saturday's match against England at Twickenham with a knee problem.

The 33-year-old picked up the injury during a training session earlier this week, although he is expected to be fit when the two sides play at Stade de France a week later.

Half-backs Sebastien Tillous-Borde and Frederic Michalak also miss out, but coach Philippe Saint-Andre said both players were still in contention for his final 31-man World Cup squad.

Tillous-Borde, 30, is still making a recovery from a knee injury while Michalak, 32, is in need of a rest, according to Saint-Andre. 

Speaking about Michalak’s omission, Saint-Andre said: "He was injured a lot with Toulon this last season.

"He hasn't had any niggles in preparation but we wanted to give him another week."

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Some of the eleven players left out of the squad being taken to London are those from Top 14 finalists Stade Francais and Clermont, whose season only finished on June 13.

Saint-Andre has kept scrum-halves Rory Kockott and Morgan Parra, as well as fly-halves Remi Tales and Francois Trinh-Duc for Les Bleus' first pre-World Cup warm-up clash.

Following Saturday's match, France will host England at the Stade de France a week later and then begin their World Cup campaign against Italy at Twickenham on September 19.

Squad:

Forwards: Uini Atonio, Xavier Chiocci, Vincent Debaty, Nicolas Mas, Rabah Slimani, Guilhem Guirado, Dimitri Szarzewski, Alexandre Flanquart, Yoann Maestri, Sebastien Vahaamahina, Yannick Nyanga, Fulgence Ouedraogo, Loann Goujon, Louis Picamoles.

Backs: Rory Kockott, Morgan Parra, Remi Tales, Francois Trinh-Duc, Alexandre Dumoulin, Gael Fickou, Remi Lamerat, Brice Dulin, Sofiane Guitoune, Yoann Huget, Scott Spedding.

Watch England's World Cup warm-up clash with France live on Sky Sports 1 HD on Saturday - coverage starts at 7.15pm.