France team: Fabien Galthie resists wielding the axe after Scotland horror show despite naming debutant for Le Crunch
France head coach Fabien Galthie and Bordeaux-Begles star Temo Matiu, who will make his Test debut.
Fabien Galthie has kept changes to a minimum for their clash against England despite seeing their Grand Slam dreams dashed against Scotland.
Gregor Townsend’s men produced an inspired performance to secure a 50-40 triumph but they were also helped by Les Bleus, who were some way off their best.
The French are still favourites for the Six Nations title, however, and know that a bonus-point victory over their old foe England will be enough to lift the silverware.
Galthie has resisted making mass changes based on form, instead altering the team due to injury and suspension.
Injury and suspension issues
Nicolas Depoortere is out of the game after picking up a calf issue and he has been replaced by Pierre-Louis Barassi with Emilien Gailleton coming onto the bench.
The rest of the backline is unchanged as Thomas Ramos, Theo Attissogbe and Louis Bielle-Biarrey once again combine in the back three.
Yoram Moefana partners Barassi in the midfield while Matthieu Jalibert and captain Antoine Dupont are once again the half-back duo.
Up front, Anthony Jelonch’s injury and Oscar Jegou’s suspension have resulted in Galthie changing things around in the pack. Charles Ollivon shifts from lock to number eight in place of Jelonch and highly rated Bordeaux-Begles back-rower Temo Matiu comes in for Jegou for his debut.
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With Ollivon moving into the loose trio, Thibaud Flament starts in the second-row and is partnered by Emmanuel Meafou as the French beef up their scrum to combat England’s best weapon in this year’s Six Nations.
The front-row remains unchanged as Dorian Aldegheri, Julien Marchand and Jean-Baptiste Gros line up together.
Meanwhile, they have gone for a 6-2 split on the bench as Peato Mauvaka, Rodrigue Neti, Demba Bamba, Hugo Auradou, Mickael Guillard and Joshua Brennan cover the forwards, while Baptiste Serin and Gailleton are the back line replacements.
France team to face England
France: 15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Theo Attissogbe, 13 Pierre-Louis Barassi, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Antoine Dupont (c), 8 Charles Ollivon, 7 Temo Matiu, 6 Francois Cros, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Thibaud Flament, 3 Dorian Aldegheri, 2 Julien Marchand, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements: 16 Peato Mauvaka, 17 Rodrigue Neti, 18 Demba Bamba, 19 Hugo Auradou, 20 Mickael Guillard, 21 Joshua Brennan, 22 Baptiste Serin, 23 Emilien Gailleton
Date: Saturday, March 14
Venue: Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Kick-off: 21:10 local (20:10 GMT)
Referee: Nika Amashukeli (GRU)
Assistant referees: Andrew Brace (IRFU), Hollie Davidson (SRU)
TMO: Brett Cronan (RA)
FPRO: Matteo Liperini (FIR)