Guitoune handed France debut

Perpignan wing Sofiane Guitoune will win his first cap for France on Saturday after being named in the starting XV to face Tonga.

Perpignan wing Sofiane Guitoune will win his first cap for France on Saturday after being named in the starting XV to face Tonga in Le Havre.

Head coach Philippe Saint-André has made five changes to the starting line-up that narrowly lost to the All Blacks last weekend.

Toulouse centre Gael Fickou will make his first start at outside centre, replacing club team-mate Florian Fritz.

The three other changes are all in the pack as Perpignan lock Sebastian Vahaamahina is preferred to Pascale Papé, who drops to the bench, Fulgence Ouedraogo replaces Wenceslas Lauret on the blindside flank and Dimitri Szarzewski starts at hooker ahead of Benjamin Kayser.

Montpellier scrum-half Jonathan Pélissié is also in line for his Test debut off the bench, where he is joined by Toulon backs Frederic Michalak and Mathieu Bastareaud as well as Racing Metro loose forward Bernard Le Roux.

France: 15 Brice Dulin, 14 Sofiane Guitoune, 13 Gael Fickou, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Maxime Médard, 10 Rémi Talès, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Damien Chouly, 7 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Yannick Forestier.
Replacements: 16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Pascale Papé, 20 Bernard Le Roux, 21 Jonathan Pélissié, 22 Frederic Michalak, 23 Mathieu Bastareaud.

Date: Saturday, November 16
Venue: Stade Océane, Le Havre
Kick-off: 18.00 (17.00 GMT)
Referee: Glen Jackson