France make one change for England clash

France coach Marc Lievremont has made just one change to his side to face England on Saturday with Mathieu Bastareaud returning at centre in place of David Marty.

Bastareaud started Sunday's defeat of Italy on the bench but was today named in the starting XV for the clash at the Stade de France which is vital to their hopes of clinching the RBS 6 Nations title.

Les Bleus currently top the table, two points clear of Ireland who meet Scotland in Dublin.

Marty started against the Azzurri as Bastareaud had failed to fully recover from an ankle injury sustained on club duty for Stade Francais but showed he was an able replacement with two tries in France's 46-20 victory.

But Lievremont has opted for 21-year-old Bastareaud, who has eight caps to his name, rather than his more experienced rival.

The France team to play England at the Stade de France on Saturday is:

C Poitrenaud (Toulouse); M Andreu (Castres), M Bastareaud (Stade Francais), Y Jauzion (Toulouse), A Palisson (Brive); F Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), M Parra (Clermont Auvergne); T Domingo (Clermont Auvergne), W Servat (Toulouse), N Mas (Perpignan), L Nallet (Racing Metro), J Pierre (Clermont Auvergne) T Dusautoir (Toulouse, captain), J Bonnaire (Clermont Auvergne), I Harinordoquy (Biarritz).

Replacements: D Szarzewski (Stade Francais), J-B Poux (Toulouse), S Chabal (Racing Metro), A Lapandry (Clermont Auvergne), D Yachvili (Biarritz), D Marty (Perpignan), J Malzieu (Clermont Auvergne).