France coach Bernard Laporte on Wednesday made seven changes to the side that suffered a humiliating 47-3 defeat to the All Blacks last Saturday in Lyon.
France play their second of two autumn Tests against New Zealand at the Stade de France on Saturday, with Laporte desperate for a decent performance following the All Blacks seven-try massacre less than a week ago.
In the absence of injured second rower Fabien Pelous, Lionel Nallet of Castres steps in for his 19th cap.
Veteran Raphael Ibanez will pick up the captain’s armband from Pelous, who was ruled out of this Test after picking up an injury in last Saturday’s rout.
Ibanez’s selection means that Dimitri Szarzewski of Stade Francais will start the match on the subs bench.
Laporte and his management team have replaced Sylvain Marconnet at prop with Bourgoin’s Olivier Milloud.
Stade Francais third rower Remy Martin will pick up his 15th cap when he starts instead of Thierry Dusautoir, who has not made the squad.
Ageing veteran Serge Betsen, meanwhile, will start on the subs bench for the first time since 2001.
Toulouse’s Jean-Baptiste Elissalde has replaced Dimitri Yachvili at flyhalf while club teammate Cedric Heymans will pick up his 25th cap for France on the wing. — Sapa-AFP
Team
Pepito Elhorga (Agen); Aurelien Rougerie (Clermont), Florian Fritz (Toulouse), Yannick Jauzion (Toulouse), Cedric Heymans (Toulouse); Damien Traille (Biarritz), Jean-Baptiste Elissalde (Toulouse); Remy Martin (Stade Francais), Elvis Vermeulen (Clermont), Julien Bonnaire (Bourgoin); Pascal Pape (Castres), Lionel Nallet (Castres); Pieter De Villiers (Stade Francais), Raphael Ibanez (Wasps/ENG, captain), Olivier Milloud (Bourgoin) Substitutes: Dimitri Szarzewski (Stade Francais), Sylvain Marconnet (Stade Francais), Loic Jacquet (Clermont), Serge Betsen (Biarritz), Dimitri Yachvili (Biarritz), David Marty (Perpignan), Christophe Dominici (Stade Francais)