France centre Maxime Mermoz, dropped from the France side after the second Six Nations defeat to Wales, on Tuesday insisted that he had not fallen out with coach Philippe Saint-Andre. \"There\'s no misunderstanding. I\'ve got my ideas but the selectors made their choice and I respect them,\" the Toulon player said in an interview with AFP. \"Patrice (Lagisquet, Saint-Andre\'s assistant) tried to call me but I was ill and I didn\'t reply. You can give any excuse but it\'s up to me to prove my worth and work hard,\" he added. Mermoz said that given France\'s plight -- rock bottom of the Six Nations table and playing this weekend to avoid the humiliation of four defeats in the tournament -- it was more important to focus on turning around the side\'s fortunes than his own. The 26-year-old, capped 24 times for Les Bleus, played in the World Cup final against New Zealand and was in the side for the Six Nations defeats to Italy (23-18) and Wales (16-6). \"Against Italy, there was a sense of a lack of ambition. Against Wales, defensively I did my job. In attack, when you are the outside centre, it\'s not easy to take the initiative. You\'re up against it. \"Against England, there were counter-attacks which wasn\'t the case against Italy and Wales,\" added Mermoz, attributing the side\'s current woes to too many matches that had left players \"mentally worn-out\" before even the start of the Six Nations. From: AFP
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