Veteran lock Fabien Pelous is to take over from the retired Fabien Galthie as France captain in this season's Six Nations even though he is unlikely to play in the opener against Ireland

Veteran lock Fabien Pelous is to take over from the retired Fabien Galthie as France captain in this season's Six Nations Championship even though he is unlikely to play in the opener against Ireland on February 14th.

Pelous told l'Equipe sports daily he had accepted head coach Bernard Laporte's offer to skipper the side but said his twisted left knee would probably keep him out of the Ireland match.

"I don't want to rush anything," he said. "I'm here for the long term."

The 30-year-old Toulouse player, capped 86 times, has already said he wants to carry on to the 2007 World Cup.

Pelous captained France 15 times between 1997 and 2002 and took over from Galthie when the scrum-half was injured for the last three matches of the 2003 Six Nations.

Laporte and his selectors meet on February 3 to name their Six Nations squad when they will have to tackle a second-row injury crisis.

Pelous, Olivier Brouzet, recovering from a collarbone operation, David Auradou, carrying a calf strain, and Jerome Thion, suffering from an Achilles tendon injury, are all doubtful for the Ireland match.

Meanwhile, Lewis Moody will miss England's opening two Six Nations championship matches after the flanker sustained a stress fracture to his foot.

The Leicester flanker, who stood in for Richard Hill for the opening World Cup matches when Hill was recovering from injury, will miss the February 15th match in Italy and the Feb 21st match against Scotland at Murrayfield. The World Cup winner should be back in contention for the Ireland match at Twickenham March 6.

Moody, 25, has won 24 England caps, the last as a replacement in November's World Cup final victory over Australia.

Head coach Clive Woodward's injury list also includes Jonny Wilkinson and centres Mike Catt, Mike Tindall and Ollie Smith.

All bar Wilkinson are doubtful for the Six Nations, but Stuart Abbott returns to action this weekend for London Wasps after a month-long lay-off.