South African-born Scott Spedding will start at fullback in France’s World Cup opener against Italy at Twickenham on Saturday.
The starting lineup shows just two changes from the side that beat Scotland in France’s last World Cup warm-up game, with Alexandre Dumoulin replacing the injured Wesley Fofana at inside centre, while Yoann Maestri starts at No 5 in place of Alexandre Flanquart.
Former Sharks player Frédéric Michalak will continue at flyhalf, with Sébastien Tillous-Borde starting at No 9 and Morgan Parra on the bench at the expense of Rory Kockott.
France – 15 Scott Spedding, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Alexandre Dumoulin, 11 Noa Nakaitaci, 10 Frédéric Michalak, 9 Sébastien Tillous-Borde, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Damien Chouly, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Pascal Papé, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Eddy Ben Arous.
Subs: 16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Nicolas Mas, 19 Bernard le Roux, 20 Alexandre Flanquart, 21 Morgan Parra, 22 Rémi Talès, 23 Gaël Fickou.
Photo: Jean Catuff/Getty Images
