France coach Marc Lievremont has given his Irish counterpart Eddie O'Sullivan plenty to mull over ahead of Saturday's Six Nations clash in Paris, making six changes to the side that opened the campaign in Edinburgh.
Winger Vincent Clerc, who scored two tries in the 27-6 win over Scotland on Sunday, and fly-half Francois Trinh-Duc are dropped to the bench in the backs. Aurelien Rougerie and David Skrela come in as their replacements, with Rougerie slotting in on the left wing and Julien Malzieu switching to the right flank.
In the forwards, hooker William Servat, prop Julien Brugnaut and lock Loic Jacquet leave the side, while number eight Elvis Vermeulen has been ruled out of the tournament with a broken rib.
Montpellier's Louis Picamoles has replaced Vermeulen and is on the bench for this weekend, while Dimitri Szarzewski, Arnaud Mela and Julien Bonnaire come into the pack.
Scrum-half Jean-Baptiste Elissalde is included in the starting line-up, even though he came off after an hour against Scotland nursing a knock to his left ankle.
"There are many changes which are a reward for the spirit the replacements showed before and during the match against Scotland," Lievremont explained this morning.
"It seems logical to us to see everybody, to give everybody a chance while keeping the team balanced."
With regards Clerc, who scored two tries against Scotland, Lievremont added: "Vincent was exceptional against Scotland. We took this decision because of the way Aurelien performed in training. Vincent will be disappointed but this not a sanction against him."
The fact that the selectors went for the uncapped and little-known Picamoles and not Sebastien Chabal confirmed that the burly Sale player, one of the stars of last year's World Cup, was not part of their plans.
Lievremont had promised changes after taking over from Bernard Laporte in the wake of France's World Cup semi-final defeat by England and has been true to his word.
The new coach was praised by French media after France played an exciting running game against Scotland. Laporte was criticised during the World Cup for relying on dull, defensive tactics rather than on France's trademark flair.
France: C Heymans (Toulouse); A Rougerie (Clermont-Auvergne), D Marty (Perpignan), D Traille (Biarritz), J Malzieu (Clermont-Auvergne); D Skrela (Stade Francais), J-B Elissalde (Toulouse); N Mas (Perpignan), D Szarzewski (Stade Francais), L Faure (Sale), A Mela (Albi), L Nallet (Castres), F Ouedraogo (Montpellier), T Dusautoir (Toulouse), J Bonnaire (Clermont-Auvergne). Replacements: W Servat (Toulouse), J Brugnaut (Dax), L Jacquet (Clermont-Auvergne), L Picamoles (Montpellier), M Parra (Bourgoin), F Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), V Clerc (Toulouse).
