South African-born fullback Scott Spedding will make his debut for France against Fiji in Marseille on Saturday, with Rory Kockott on the bench.
The French have named a much changed side from the one that did duty Down Under, as coach Philippe Saint-André looks to resurrect Les Bleus flagging fortunes. With regular fullback Brice Dulin ruled out with a leg injury, Spedding has been favoured over Toulon fullback Maxime Mermoz for France's No 15 jersey.
Fellow expat Rory Kockott will likely make his debut from the bench after Saint-André chose his Castres teammate Sebastien Tillous-Borde as the starting scrumhalf. The other debutant on show will be former U20 star Teddy Thomas, who has been in good form for Racing Métro so far this season.
Up front, Thierry Dusatoir will captain the side, with Bernard le Roux and Damien Chouly joining him in the loose trio. Pascal Pape, who missed the June Tests, will return in the second row at the expense of Alexandre Flanquart, who drops to the bench.
France – 15 Scott Spedding, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Alexandre Dumoulin, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Teddy Thomas, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Sebastien Tillous-Borde, 8 Damien Chouly, 7 Bernard le Roux, 6 Thierry Dusatoir (c), 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Pascal Pape, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Alexandre Menini.
Subs (two to be omitted): 16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Uini Atonio, 18 Xavier Chiocci, 19 Alexandre Flanquart, 20 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 21 Charles Ollivon, 22 Rory Kockott, 23 Remi Talès, 24 Mathieu Basteraud, 25 Maxime Mermoz.
VIDEO: Spedding's emotional reaction to France selection
Photo: Gaizka Iroz/AFP Photo
