Wednesday 11 June 2014 14:40, UK
France head coach Phillipe Saint-Andre has overhauled his starting XV for the second Test against Australia in Melbourne.
After Les Bleus were demolished 50-23 in the opening Test in Brisbane, Saint-Andre has recalled captain Thierry Dusautoir as one of 10 changes to his starting line-up.
The flanker missed the opening Test with an arm problem, but returns at flanker along with Alexandre Flanquart, Rabah Slimani, Alexandre Menini, Yannick Nyanga among the forwards.
Saint-Andre has also changed both half-backs, with Remi Tales coming in at fly-half and Morgan Parra at scrum-half, and Maxime Medard, Mathieu Bastareaud and Brice Dulin also make the cut.
Tales and Bastareaud missed the opening game due to their commitments in the final of the French Top-14, while Parra impressed when he came on as a 70th-minute substitute, scoring a try and playing a hand in another.
Long-serving No.8 Louis Picamoles has been named on the bench but Damien Chouly has kept his starting position in the back row.
Nicolas Mas, capped 67 times for France, has been dropped to the bench after a sub-par showing in Brisbane.
Hugo Bonneval, Gael Fickou, Felix Le Bourhis, Maxime Machenaud, Fulgence Ouedraogo, Sebastien Vahaamahina, Guilhelm Guirado, Christopher Tolofua, Vincent Debaty, Rabah Slimani and Alexandre Flanquart have been sacrificed from the squad entirely.
Saint-Andre admits he was ashamed by the defeat in Brisbane and is looking for a much-improved performance in Melbourne this weekend.
"We were all ashamed, whether it was the staff or the players," he admitted.
"Going down by 27 points is never pleasant. There have been talks, videos, recovery because that game left physical and mental scars.
"We have prepared ourselves for a big game, a big fight.
"When you ship as many points as we did and put in such a bad performance it's normal to have some turnover in the group. Thierry will bring us an enormous amount of experience, stability and fighting spirit to the group,"
France starting XV: Brice Dulin, Yohann Huget, Mathieu Bastareaud, Wesley Fofana, Maxime Medard, Remi Tales, Morgan Parra; Alexandre Menini, Guilhem Guirado, Rabah Slimani, Alexandre Flanquart, Yoann Maestri, Yannick Nyanga, Thierry Dusautoir (capt), Damien Chouly.
Replacements: Brice Mach, Thomas Domingo, Nicolas Mas, Bernard Le Roux, Louis Picamoles, Antoine Burban, Frederic Michalak, Remi Lamerat.
Watch Australia v France live on Sky Sports 1 at 11am on Saturday.
