Baptiste Couilloud to skipper France against England

France head coach Fabien Galthie has made seven changes, including a positional switch, to his starting line-up for their Autumn Nations Cup final against England at Twickenham on Sunday.

Following an agreement with French clubs that their players can only play three internationals during the end-of-year Tests, Galthie has been forced to field a shadow side with Baptiste Couilloud replacing Baptiste Serin as the team’s scrum-half and captain.

In other backline alterations, Alivereti Raka replaces Teddy Thomas on the right wing, while Yoram Moefana takes over from Jean-Pascal Barraque at outside centre.

There are several changes in the forwards with Selevasio Tolofua coming in at number eight for Anthony Jelonch, who shifts to the side of the scrum at the expense of Sekou Macalou, who drops down to the replacements bench.

Elsewhere, Pierre Bourgarit is the new hooker, with Peato Mauvaka his back-up, while Hassane Kolingar is preferred to Rodrique Neti as the loosehead prop.

🔵 Avec beaucoup de plaisir et d'envie, les Bleus préparent la finale de l'@autumnnations. Ils ne cachent pas leur ambition : s’imposer à Twickenham !#NeFaisonsXV #XVdeFrance

— France Rugby (@FranceRugby) December 1, 2020

France: 15 Brice Dulin, 14 Alivereti Raka, 13 Yoram Moefana, 12 Jonathan Danty, 11 Gabin Villière, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Baptiste Couilloud (c), 8 Selevasio Tolofua, 7 Anthony Jelonch, 6 Cameron Woki, 5 Baptiste Pesenti, 4 Kilian Geraci, 3 Dorian Aldegheri, 2 Pierre Bourgarit, 1 Hassane Kolingar
Replacements: 16 Peato Mauvaka, 17 Rodrigue Neti, 18 Uini Atonio, 19 Guillaume Ducat, 20 Sekou Macalou, 21 Sébastien Bézy, 22 Louis Carbonel, 23 Pierre-Louis Barassi

Date: Sunday, December 6
Venue: Twickenham
Kick-off: 14:00 GMT
Referee: Andrew Brace (IRFU)
Assistant Referees: Frank Murphy (IRFU), Craig Evans (WRU)
TMO: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)