France make five changes
After that two-point defeat last time out, Fabien Galthie has made five changes to his French side, every one of them in the pack.
Prop Wilfrid Hounkpatin, the 192cm, 132kg behemoth from Castres, joins his club teammate Gaëtan Barlot and Toulon’s Jean-Baptiste Gros, who retain their spots in a youthful front row for Les Blues.
The other debutant is 22-year-old lock Pierre-Henri Azagoh, the 198cm giant from Stade Francais, who will partner Cyril Cazeaux as part of an entirely new second row.
Galthie has big expectations of Azagoh, saying he is “a discovery” who “plays in the shadows” and “shows a lot of intelligence”.
The other changes see Cameron woki and Ibrahim Diallo | take up positions as flankers.
The backline is unchanged.
“These seven players, to varying degrees, did all right,” Galthie said.
“It’s part of the learning process, for a lot of rookie players this is a time of accelerated learning.”
Here’s the full line up.
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