France coach Marc Lievremont has opted to stick with the same squad for the clash with Ireland despite fitness fears over Luc Ducalcon, Aurelien Rougerie and Benjamin Fall.

France opened up their RBS Six Nations rugby campaign with an impressive, forward-dominated victory over Scotland at Murrayfield.

The Dordogne (dept. 24) is placed to take advantage of speedier rail links to Paris and Spain – so enhancing tourism – as strategies for TGV routes for the South West are revealed.

The new proposed tracks for the Lignes à Grandes Vitesses connecting Bordeaux-Toulouse and Bordeaux-Spain could very well cut journey time from Dordogne to Paris to three hours and Dordogne to Spain to four hours.