Lièvremont freshens up for Brisbane

France coach Marc Lièvremont has made wholesale changes to his team for their second Test against Australia in Brisbane on Saturday.

France coach Marc Lièvremont has made wholesale changes to his team for their second Test against Australia in Brisbane on Saturday.

Les Bleus change eleven in all to the XV that lost 34-13 in Sydney last week, with François Trinh-Duc shifting in one place to the fly-half position for axed Benjamin Boyet.

Of the eleven, however, three are positional with Benjamin Thiery moving to full-back for the injured Pepito Elhorga in a back-line that lacks any real international experience.

Damien Traille drops out of the squad altogether with Lièvremont opting to blood Maxime Mermoz and Thibault Lacroix at centre against the ever-improving Wallabies, who will be looking to build serious momentum ahead of their Tri-Nations bow.

The French have toured Down Under without their Top 14 elite after the domestic season overlapped with their two-Test series against Robbie Deans' side.

And it could be a painful send-off for Lièvremont's men as Australia continue to grow under their new Kiwi boss.

France: 15 Benjamin Thiery, 14 Alexis Palisson, 13 Maxim Mermoz, 12 Thibault Lacroix, 11 David Janin, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Sebastian Tillous-Borde, 8 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 7 Imanol Harinordoquy, 6 Matthieu Lievremont, 5 Lionel Nallet (captain), 4 Sebastien Chabal, 3 Renaud Boyoud, 2 Sebastien Bruno, 1 Pierre Correia.
Replacements: 16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Benoit Lecouls, 18 David Couzinet, 19 Louis Picamoles, 20 Yannick Caballero, 21 Dimitri Yachvili, 22 Jean-Baptiste Peyras.

Date: Saturday July 5, 2008
Kick-off: 20:05 (11:05 BST)
Venue: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Referee: Paul Honiss (New Zealand)
Touch judges: Marius Jonker (South Africa), Kelvin Deaker (New Zealand)
Television match official: Kelvin Deaker (New Zealand)
Assessor: Andrew Cole (Australia)