French changes for England RWC15 warm-up

Aug 20, 2015 - 10:49 AM France coach Philippe Saint-Andre on Thursday made 12 changes to his starting line-up for the second of two Rugby World Cup warm-up games against England on Saturday at the Stade de France.

The French lost 19-14 to Stuart Lancaster's men at Twickenham last Saturday and Saint-Andre is keen to cast an eye over all his players before cutting back his squad on Sunday from 36 to 31.

Notably, he has linked up Frederic Michalak with Sebastien Tillous-Borde at halfback, giving both Toulon veterans a chance to state their claims for World Cup squad slots.

"They are used to playing together and I expect them to get the team playing just as well as Morgan (Parra) and Francois (Trinh Duc) did last week," said Saint-Andre.

"Saturday's match will be even more intense than last week."

Also brought back into the starting line-up are first-choice centres Mathieu Bastareaud and Wesley Fofana, who take over from Remi Lamerat and Alexandre Dumoulin, who both struggled against the English.

Scott Spedding stays on at fullback with Yoann Huget and Noa Nakaitaci completing the back three.

Thierry Dusautoir is rested after sustaining a knee injury and is replaced as skipper by lock Pascal Pape, who is back to full fitness after a thigh strain.

France:

Scott Spedding; Yoann Huget, Mathieu Bastareaud, Wesley Fofana, Noa Nakaitaci; Frederic Michalak, Sebastien Tillous-Borde; Louis Picamoles, Bernard Le Roux, Damien Chouly; Yoann Maestri, Pascal Pape (capt); Rabah Slimani, Guilhem Guirado, Eddy Ben Arous. Res: Benjamin Kayser, Vincent Debaty, Uini Atonio, Alexandre Flanquart, Yannick Nyanga, Rory Kockott, Remi Tales, Gael Fickou.

Source: AAP