Sunday 15 March 2015 18:03, UK
France head coach Philippe Saint-Andre has rung the changes ahead of Sunday’s Six Nations game with Italy in Rome.
Saint-Andre has returned to his preferred half-back pairing of Sebastien Tillous-Borde and Camille Lopez as Les Bleus look to get their campaign back on track after back-to-back defeats.
Toulon scrum-half Tillous-Borde missed the15-8 home win over Scotland and the 18-11 defeat in Ireland before starting on the bench for the 20-13 loss to Wales at the Stade de France last time out.
Saint-Andre has made eight changes in total to the team that lost to Wales after the squad was hit by a series of injuries.
Scrum-half Morgan Parra, centres Remi Lamerat and Wesley Fofana, as well as wing Sofiane Guitoune, are out of contention.
Scott Spedding replaces Brice Dulin at full-back, with wing Noa Nakaitaci and No 8 Loann Goujon set to earn their first international caps.
Centre Maxime Mermoz will start in his first appearance in this year's championship.
Saint-Andre said of his choice to select Spedding in place of Dulin at full-back: "Scott has refreshed the team mentally and physically.
"He found energy. His kicking game can also be used to complement Camille Lopez. And today, we believe that Scott is ahead of Brice."
The France boss named Mathieu Bastareaud among his replacements and hopes the 31-cap centre can make a difference late on.
He added: "We think Mathieu is a better impact player in the last 20 minutes."
France finished fourth last year and occupy the same position in the Six Nations table going into the Italy game, before completing their fixtures with a trip to Twickenham to take on England on March 21.
Team: 15 Scott Spedding, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Gael Fickou, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Noa Nakaitaci, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Sebastien Tillous-Borde; 1 Eddy Ben Arous, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 3 Nicolas Mas, 4 Alexandre Flanquart, 5 Yoann Maestri, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (captain), 7 Bernard Le Roux, 8 Loann Goujon.
Replacements: 16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Rabah Slimani, 18 Vincent Debaty, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Damien Chouly, 21 Rory Kockott, 22 Jules Plisson, 23 Mathieu Bastareaud.
