Two debutants start for France in Le Crunch

Adam Kyriacou

France head coach Fabien Galthie has named two debutants in his team to take on England, with Anthony Bouthier and Mohamed Haouas starting their Six Nations opener in Paris this Sunday.

Montpellier full-back Bouthier gets the nod for the showdown at the Stade de France, with club-mate and Haouas running out at tighthead.

The backline is as expected with Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack lining up as the half-back pairing, while Gael Fickou and an in-form Virimi Vakatawa will be the centre combination, with Damian Penaud and Teddy Thomas providing the wing threat.

Up front, Haouas is joined in the front-row by loosehead prop Cyril Baille and hooker Julien Marchand. Bernard Le Roux and Paul Willemse start in the second-row while François Cros, Charles Ollivon and Grégory Alldritt are in the back-row. Flanker Ollivon will lead the French side.

Two players on the bench are poised to make their international bow as Boris Palu and Cameron Woki are named. Demba Bamba also features while scrum-half Baptiste Serin, fly-half Matthieu Jalibert and wing Vincent Rattez are set to be unleashed by Galthie in the second period.

France: 15 Anthony Bouthier, 14 Teddy Thomas, 13 Virimi Vakatawa, 12 Gael Fickou, 11 Damian Penaud, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Antoine Dupont, 8 Grégory Alldritt, 7 Charles Ollivon (c), 6 François Cros, 5 Paul Willemse, 4 Bernard Le Roux, 3 Mohamed Haouas, 2 Julien Marchand, 1 Cyril Baille
Replacements: 16 Peato Mauvaka, 17 Jefferson Poirot, 18 Demba Bamba, 19 Boris Palu, 20 Cameron Woki, 21 Baptiste Serin, 22 Matthieu Jalibert, 23 Vincent Rattez

Date: Sunday, February 2
Venue: Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Kick-off: 16:00 local (15:00 GMT)
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: Andrew Brace (Ireland), Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)
TMO: Brian MacNeice (Ireland)

France