FRANCE v ARGENTINA: FRANCE COACH Marc Lievremont, who has been given time to bed in since succeeding Bernard Laporte after the World Cup, said he was now under pressure after three straight defeats by Wales (29-12) in March and Australia (34-13 and 40-10) in June and July.
"During the first months, we had to rebuild, change our game, find new players," he said. "Now we must deliver. We must win games starting against the Pumas, the Pacific Islanders and the Wallabies this month."
Lievremont said reaching that goal meant the Argentina game would mark the end of a period of experimentation that led him to select 53 players, including 25 newcomers, in the first seven games of his tenure. "It's not a revolution, it's an evolution. The time has come to rely on a more settled and smaller squad of players who have proved their worth," he said.
Lievremont named only one uncapped player, 21-year-old fullback Maxime Medard, in the side to start today's game.
He also said France would now play a more complete game with, field kicking as an element which cannot be overlooked.
"It doesn't mean that we are going to leave our ambitious game in the dressingroom. Our objective still is to give ourselves the means to attack every time it's possible, but not to attack all the time," he added.
Prop Rodrigo Roncero was included in the Argentina team after appealing against a 30-day ban by the French league.
Stade Francais's Roncero was suspended for punching Toulouse's French international flanker Thierry Dusautoir during a league game last month.
FRANCE: M Medard; J Malzieu, Y Jauzion, B Baby, C Heymans; D Skrela, JB Elissalde; F Barcella, D Szarzewski, B Lecouls; R Millo-Chluski, L Nallet (capt); T Dusautoir, I Harinordoquy, L Picamoles. Replacements: B Kayser, N Mas, S Chabal, F Ouedraogo, M Parra, D Traille, A Palisson.
ARGENTINA: B Stortoni; F Leonelli, G Tiesi, F Contepomi, H Agulla; JM Hernandez, N Vergallo; R Roncero, M Ledesma, JP Orlandi; R Alvarez-Kairelis, P Albacete; M Durand, A Galindo, JM Fernandez Lobbe. Replacements: AV Basualdo, M Ayerza, E Lozada, A Campos, A Figuerola, FM Aramburu, R Carballo.
