Michalak leads strong French Barbarians

French Barbarians head coach Pierre Mignoni has named a strong starting XV for Friday's clash against South Africa 'A' in Durban.

The side will be captained by Lyon's former France fly-half Frédéric Michalak who forms a halfback pairing with Bordeaux-Bègles scrum-half Yann Lesgourgues.

Elsewhere in the back-line, Louis Dupichot of Pau starts at full-back while La Rochelle's Gabriel Lacroix and Arthur Bonneval of Toulouse are the starting wings and Jonathan Danty and Jean-Baptiste Dubie, who play for Stade Français and Bordeaux-Bègles respectively, line up as the midfield combination.

In the forwards, Marco Tauleigne of UBB packs down at number eight while Clermont's Judicaël Cancoriet and Anthony Jelonch of Castres are the two flankers.

Arnaud Mela of Brive and Stade Français' Alexandre Flanquart are the two locks while Pau's Malik Hamadache and Khatchik Vartanov of Racing 92 are the starting prop with Stade's Rémi Bonfils the hooker.

An interesting selection amongst the reserves is former les Bleus full-back Clément Poitrenaud, who currently plies his trade with the Durban-based Super Rugby outfit the Sharks.

French Barbarians: 15 Louis Dupichot, 14 Gabriel Lacroix, 13 Jonathan Danty, 12 Jean-Baptiste Dubie, 11 Arthur Bonneval, 10 Frédéric Michalak 9 Yann Lesgourgues, 8 Marco Tauleigne, 7 Judicaël Cancoriet, 6 Anthony Jelonch, 5 Arnaud Mela, 4 Alexandre Flanquart, 3 Malik Hamadache, 2 Rémi Bonfils, 1 Khatchik Vartanov 
Replacements: 16 Anthony Etrillard, 17 Clément Ric, 18 Tommy Raynaud, 19 Felix Lambey, 20 Romain Sazy, 21 Jean-Baptiste Pejoine, 22 Anthony Belleau, 23 Clément Poitrenaud

Date: Friday, June 16
Venue: Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban
Kick-off: 16:45 local (14:45 GMT)
Referee: Quinton Immelman (South Africa)
Assistant Referees: Vusi Msibi (South Africa), Blake Beattie (South Africa)
TMO: Christie du Preez (South Africa)