France coach Marc Lievremont has made 12 changes to the line-up that beat South Africa for Saturday’s match against Samoa, with wing Benjamin Fall and flanker Alexandre Lapandry handed first caps.
The French stormed to a 20-13 victory over the world champions in Toulouse on Friday night but Lievremont has chosen to ring the changes for the Samoa game ahead of the clash with New Zealand on Saturday week.
“We took three things into consideration — physical freshness, the fear of any sort of complacency and, most importantly, the players are very close to being at the same level,” he said.
Veteran prop Sylvain Marconnet replaces Thierry Dusautoir as captain for the match.
“By his record and his involvement, Sylvain Marconnet has always been impeccable,” said Lievremont. “We’re really happy for him. As we are in Benjamin Fall or Alexandre Lapandry, to whom we wish a long run in the France team.
“They are there to learn. Alexandre is a boy with huge potential that will be realised in the months and years to come. He has a very intelligent game and has always been a leader in his generation with a flawless state of mind.
Of Fall, he added: “It was time to give him a chance and see him at the highest level.”
Lievremont has studied the Samoans’ 17-13 defeat by Wales at the Millennium Stadium last Friday and knows Les Bleus will be in for a physical test.
“The game against Wales was interesting. The Welsh had a lot of opportunities, especially in the first half. They regularly crossed the defence but made blunders. They also encountered excellent defenders.
“The risk we face is that each player plays to his individual potential. Faced with such physical players, we must counter their force.”
France (v Samoa):Maxime Medard; Benjamin Fall, David Marty, Yannick Jauzion, Vincent Clerc; Francois Trinh-Duc, Morgan Parra; Thomas Domingo, Dimitri Szarzewski, Sylvain Marconnet (capt), Sebastien Chabal, Pascal Pape, Alexandre Lapandry, Julien Bonnaire, Louis Picamoles.
Replacements:Guilhem Guirado, Nicolas Mas, Romain Millo-Chluski, Thierry Dusautoir, Julien Dupuy, Damien Traille, Yann David, Fabien Barcella.
