British and Irish Lions

French coach Bernard Laporte has insisted his team will not specifically target England's goal-kicking danger man Jonny Wilkinson in Saturday's vital RBS 6 Nations opener at Twickenham.

Last year France's success in subduing the fly-half played a big part in their 20-15 victory in Paris which denied England the Grand Slam.

But Laporte said: "We know Jonny is a dangerous player but there is no special plan against him. We must concentrate on him because we know he's very dangerous but there is no anti-Wilkinson plan.

"We know we have to be careful when he has the ball and get in quickly because he can put us under pressure but there are other players we also need to watch."

Laporte also welcomed the new international rugby board directive to referees instructing them to hand out yellow cards and sin bin for 10 minutes players who do not roll away and allow the ball to be played quickly after tackles.

France will work on it with Joel Dume, the French Rugby Federation national director of referees, who is part of their backroom team as refereeing consultant.

"We have a top international referee working with us and this is a good decision," said Laporte.

Three former British & Irish Lions will line-up against an England XV at Twickenham Stadium on Sunday as the Barbarians warm-up for their showdown with the 2013 tourists in Hong Kong next week.

Radike Samo, one of only two players still playing top level rugby in Australia who placed against the 2001 British & Irish Lions, will return to top flight action with Queensland Reds against the Stormers in Cape Town on Sunday.