Prop Eddy Ben Arous’s inclusion in place of injured Alexandre Menini is France’s only change from the win over Scotland for Saturday’s Six Nations game against Ireland in Dublin.
Menini was replaced by Racing Metro’s Ben Arous early in the second half in Saturday’s game in Paris after sustaining a foot injury.
Ben Arous, 24, will be making his 1st start after winning 2 previous caps.
Camille Lopez’s 5 penalties helped France edge out Scotland 15 / 8.
With Brice Dulin still hampered by an arm injury, Scott Spedding will again start at fullback.
The 25-times capped Vincent Debaty takes his place among the replacements for what promises to be a tough match against the champions who kicked off their campaign with a 26 / 3 win over Italy.
France head coach Philippe Saint-Andre opted not to reshuffle his team despite heavy criticism of last weekend’s performance in the French media.
Scrumhalf Morgan Parra remains on the bench despite his impressive cameo performance against the Scots when he came on for South Africa-born Rory Kockott.
Kockott will again pair up with Castres team-mate Camille Lopez.
“Rory also did some interesting things in his 1st start and he deserves to carry on with Camille for this match,” said Saint-Andre on Wednesday.
France: 15 Scott Spedding, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Teddy Thomas, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Rory Kockott, 8 Bernard le Roux, 7 Damien Chouly, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (Captain), 5 Pascal Pape, 4 Yoann Maestri, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Eddy Ben Arous
Replacements: 16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Uini Atonio, 18 Vincent Debaty, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Loann Goujon, 21 Morgan Parra, 22 Remi Tales, 23 Remi Lamerat.
bbc