Antoine Dupont steps in at fly-half to replace the injured Romain Ntamack as head coach Fabien Galthié reshuffles his XV de France squad on Wednesday to face South Africa on Friday at the Stade de France.
Galthié made three changes from the side that beat Fiji 54-17 on Saturday for the fifth round of the Nations Championship, bringing back Grégory Alldritt at number eight and Julien Marchand at hooker in place of Maxime Lamothe.
The coaching staff also released the list of seven reserve players who remain on standby for last-minute call-ups. That group features three Stade Français players: prop Moses Alo-Émile, fly-half Louis Carbonel, and fullback Léo Barré, alongside Maxime Lamothe, Thomas Laclayat, Hugo Auradou, and Paul Graou.
Thirteen squad members who spent the week training at the Centre National de Rugby in Marcoussis were released and will rest during the Top 14 weekend break. The released group includes loosehead prop Jefferson Poirot, who suffered a concussion during training on Tuesday while serving as a replacement against Fiji, and center Gaël Fickou, who was recalled earlier in the week but ultimately left out of the matchday plans.
🇫🇷🇿🇦 La compo du #XVdeFrance pour défier les Sud-Africains ce vendredi à 21h10 ! 🎟️ Nos Bleus auront besoin de vous ➡️ https://t.co/JIF283Gw0r pic.twitter.com/tReajd58fn
The full list of released players comprises Poirot alongside Guillaume Cramont, Paul Gabrillagues, Tyler Duguid, Loïc Credoz, Antoine Deliance, Louis Le Brun, Fickou, Tani Vili, Teddy Thomas, Grégoire Arfeuil, Gaël Dréan, and Mathis Ferté.
France faces the double world champions at the Stade de France on Friday for the fifth round of the competition, kicking off amid an injury crisis that has sidelined roughly twenty players. The fixture marks a quick turnaround from Saturday’s victory over the Flying Fijians as Les Bleus prepare to host the Springboks.
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