FIJIAN-BORN WINGER Alivereti Raka and back row Francois Cros will win their first caps for France on Saturday in their World Cup warm-up match against Scotland.
Veteran Camille Lopez, 30, wins back his place at out-half, preferred as a starter to Romain Ntmack, who will sit on the bench for the match in Nice.
Ahead of the World Cup in Japan, French coach Jacques Brunel has been keeping a watchful eye on Clermont’s gifted Raka, who obtained French citizenship only last December.
Gros, for his part, made a strong case for inclusion at flanker during a stunning past season performance with French champions Toulouse.
He gets his chance with regular back rows Wenceslas Lauret and Yacouba Camara unavailable through injury.
Toulon’s Charles Ollivon also returns at flanker after two years to win his seventh cap after struggling with a shoulder injury.
Lopez, dropped after he criticised the coaching set up in February following the sides 44-8 defeat by England, is back in favour and will link up with Toulouse scrum-half Antoine Dupont.
Cros and Ollivon join Gregory Alldritt at number eight, who is preferred to Louis Picamoles in an experimental back row combination playing together for the first time.
Paul Gabrillagues gets his first start in the second row since June last year while in the front row Camille Chat starts at hooker in place of Guilhem Guirado, the team captain who is injured along with prop Demba Bamba.
France play Scotland again in Edinburgh on 24 August and complete their three-match World Cup preparations against Italy on 30 August at the Stade de France.
Meanwhile, Brunel announced that centre Geoffrey Doumayrou, not named in the side to play Scotland, will miss out on the World Cup because of an Achilles tendon injury after being named in the original squad to go to Japan.
France:
15. Maxime Medard
14. Damian Penaud
13. Gael Fickou
12. Wesley Fofana
11. Alivereti Raka
10. Camille Lopez
9. Antoine Dupont
1. Jefferson Poirot (captain)
2. Camille Chat
3. Rabah Slimani
4. Paul Gabrillagues
5. Sébastien Vahaamahina
6. François Cros
7. Charles Ollivon
8. Grégory Alldritt.
Replacements:
16. Peato Mauvaka
17. Dany Priso
18. Emerick Setiano
19. Felix Lambey
20. Louis Picamoles
21. Baptiste Serin
22. Romain Ntamack
23. Thomas Ramos.
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