mens
nations-championship
Fabien Galthié made a bold call to move Antoine Dupont to fly-half for France Nations Championship conflict with South Africa in Stade de France on Friday night.
With Romain Ntamack ruled out after dislocating his shoulder against Fiji, and Matthieu Jalibert, Thomas Ramos and Antoine Hastoy also unavailable, Dupont moves from his usual scrum-half role to No.10 alongside Maxime Lucua.
It is the main selection in the French national team, which has been reshaped by another difficult week on the injury front. Paul Boudehent, who started and scored in the 54-17 win over Fiji, also withdrew with a calf injury and Paul Gabrillagues was called into the wider squad but was not included in the 23rd match.
Lucu therefore starts in the scrum-half after completion Fiji match at half time, while it is unlimited Pau playmaker Axel Desperes was named among the substitutes as cover.
Elsewhere, Julien Marchand returns to the whore between Jean-Baptiste Gros and Sipili Falate, with Florian Verhaeghe and Mickaël Guillard on the second row. François Cros, Cameron Woki and Grégory Alldritt make up the back row, and number 8 marks the end of almost a year’s exile from Galti’s teams.
Yoram Moefana and Kalvin Gourgues continue in midfield, while Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang start on the wings and Théo Attissogbe at full-back.
France will look to build on their eight-try win over Fiji, but the challenge rises sharply against the world champions, who made just one change to the starting XV that demolished Italy 66-7.
The game will be the last meeting between the two sides before a potential 2027 World Cup semi-final and will be a return to the scene of their infamous 2023 World Cup quarter-final clash.
France XV: 15 Théo Attissogbe, 14 Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang, 13 Kalvin Gourgues, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Antoine Dupont, 9 Maxime Lucu; 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros, 2 Julien Marchand, 3 Sipili Falatea, 4 Florian Verhaeghe, 5 Mickaël Guillard, 6 François Cros, 7 Cameron Woki, 8 Grégory Alldritt.
Replacements: 16 Peato Mauvaka, 17 Rodrigue Netti, 18 Régis Montagne, 19 Charles Ollivon, 20 Tom Staniforth, 21 Esteban Capilla, 22 Axel Desperes, 23 Émilien Gailleton.