France have named five new caps today for their test against South Africa at the Stade de France on Saturday.
Coach Bernard Laporte has called up 19-year-old fullback Clement Poitrenaud, wing Aurelien Rougerie, centre Damien Traille, lock Thibault Privat and number eight Francis N'Tamack for the match against the 1995 world champions.
Scrum-half Fabien Galthie takes over as captain from lock Fabien Pelous, who withdrew from the squad on Monday morning because of a rib injury.
Two other first-choice players, lock Olivier Brouzet and centre Stephane Glas, have also been ruled out with injuries.
"We have full confidence in our young players", Laporte said.
Manager Jo Maso said : "We hope they will bring enthusiasm to the team. Maybe some of them will not sleep well tonight but they are strong-minded and will quickly understand that there is nothing better than a first cap against opponents such as the Springboks".
France- 15-Clement Poitrenaud; 14-Aurelien Rougerie, 13-Xavier Garbajosa, 12-Damien Traille 11-David Bory; 10-Gerald Merceron, 9-Fabien Galthie (captain); 8-Francis N'Tamack 7-Olivier Magne, 6-Patrick Tabacco, 5-Thibault Privat, 4-David Auradou, 3-Pieter de Villiers, 2-Raphael Ibanez, 1-Jean-Jacques Crenca.
Replacements:16-Yannick Bru, 17-Jean-Baptiste Poux, 18-Lionel Nallet, 19-Serge Betsen, 20-Frederic Michalak, 21-Francois Gelez, 22-Christophe Dominici.