Mercurial French half-back Frederic Michalak will start on the bench for Toulon against Clermont in the European Cup final on Saturday. Toulon coach Bernard Laporte stuck with the same starting XV that beat Saracens 24-12 in the semi-final. South African Danie Rossouw has overcome a twisted knee to retain his place in the backrow, with erstwhile captain and compatriot Joe Van Niekerk named among the replacements.

Jonny Wilkinson says he sought the advice of Toulon teammates Matt Giteau and Frederik Michalak before targeting a further season at the French Top 14 club. The 33-year-old England World Cup winner was seriously considering bringing an end to his playing career when his contract with the French club ran out at the end of this campaign due to a long standing groin problem. But Wilkinson told The Times on Saturday that encouragement from Giteau and Michalak and following a successful operation has tipped the balance in favour of signing a new contract.

France and Toulon half-back Frederic Michalak faces at least three weeks on the sidelines with a dislocated shoulder, his national team boss Philippe Saint-Andre said Sunday. Michalak was forced off nine minutes from time with the injury to his left shoulder as France ended their miserable Six Nations campaign with a 23-16 success over Scotland, which nonetheless failed to prevent them finishing up with the wooden spoon. The 30-year-old had his arm in a sling on Sunday at France's Parisien hotel.

France landed the dreaded wooden spoon for the first time since 1999 despite beating Scotland 23-16 at the Stade de France on Saturday in their final Six Nations match. Second-half tries by Wesley Fofana and Maxime Medard saw them to their first win of the tournament, but a late try by Tim Visser reduced the margin and that left them rock bottom because of a worse points difference to Ireland. "We were controlling the game well but couldn't get points on the board," said Fofana.