[1] France's William Servat (L) and Damien Traille take part in a training session in Auckland. REUTERS/Jacky Naegelen Persistence has paid off for Damien Traille after the French utility back was named in Marc Lievremont's squad for the rugby World Cup final on Sunday against New Zealand.
The 32-year-old had all-but given up hope of playing a role in the final after he was dropped following France's 37-17 pool stage loss to the All Blacks.
But his versatility and defensive kicking saw him called up for Sunday's showpiece match at Eden Park.
Lievremont waited until Friday to name his reserves bench, three days after confirming the same starting lineup he has used since the quarter-final win over England.
"I didn't hold out much hope of being in the squad, especially since Marc had made it clear after the quarterfinal that he was looking for stability," Traille told reporters on Friday.
"But now I have the ultimate satisfaction of being in the final. I showed a lot of commitment in training every week and I wanted to show I deserved a place, even though the squad had seemed to be set in place until the end.
"Now I've got my reward."
Traille, a member of France's 2003 and 2007 World Cup outfits, said he felt for those who had failed to make the squad.
"It's very hard to watch from the stands," he said. "But we've said since the beginning that we all have to stick together.
"Despite all the criticism it shows we have a solid squad and that's how we've got to where we are today.
"I went through a lot. Disappointment after coming off at halftime against the All Blacks, and staying in the stands for so long. But on the other hand, experiencing a World Cup is fabulous."
Having missed the knockout games, Traille said he was eager to show what he could do and would not disappoint despite not being match-hardened.
"Of course I want to come on," he said. "It's difficult being a reserve, you never know when you're going to come on.
"Nothing replaces games, you can be as fit as you want... that doesn't make up for it."
15-Maxime Medard, 14-Vincent Clerc, 13-Aurelien Rougerie, 12-Maxime Mermoz, 11-Alexis Palisson, 10-Morgan Parra, 9-Dimitri Yachvili, 8-Imanol Harinordoquy, 7-Julien Bonnaire, 6-Thierry Dusautoir (captain), 5-Lionel Nallet, 4-Pascal Pape, 3-Nicolas Mas, 2-William Servat, 1-Jean-Baptiste Poux
Replacements: 16-Dimitri Szarzewski, 17-Fabien Barcella, 18-Julien Pierre, 19-Fulgence Ouedraogo, 20-Jean-Marc Doussain, 21-Francois Trinh-Duc, 22-Damien Traille
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