France coach Philippe Saint-André has named an unchanged side for the match against Australia in Paris on Saturday.
Saint-André's tenure has been blighted by constant rotation as his indecision over France's best XV has had an effect on the team's results. However, after France's improved showing against Fiji at the weekend, he decided against tinkering with his side – the first time he has done so in 30 Tests.
'All the players who started [against Fiji] are at 100% and we wanted to go further with this team,' Saint-André told a news conference at France's training camp on Thursday.
That means SA-born fullback Scott Spedding and winger Teddy Thomas retain their places in the side, as they look to build on their impressive debuts. Thierry Dusatoir will extend his captaincy record when he leads the French out for the 51st time as they seek revenge for the 3-0 whitewash they suffered against the Wallabies in June.
'We will have to raise our level against one of the top nations in the world,' Saint-André added. 'We will need to play more smoothly than against Fiji, and to be more accurate.'
The French have decided against naming their reserves and will wait until after training on Thursday.
France – 15 Scott Spedding, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Alexandre Dumoulin, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Teddy Thomas, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Sebastien Tillous-Borde, 8 Damien Chouly, 7 Bernard Le Roux, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Pascal Papé, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Alexandre Menini.
Subs: TBC
Photo: Jean Catuffe/Getty Images
