- Les Bleus look to bounce back from Tonga defeat
- Harinordoquy and Mas promoted to starting places
Ahead of Saturday's quarter-final against England in Auckland, Head Coach Marc Lièvremont has made two changes to the France side that suffered an ignominious loss at the hands of Tonga in their final Pool A match.
Having been beaten 19-14 by the Pacific islanders, Les Bleus limped into the quarter-finals with an underwhelming record of two wins and two losses from their four matches in the group stage.
However, the notoriously unpredictable Lièvremont has resisted the urge to make wholesale adjustments to his starting XV, merely bringing in the experience of Imanol Harinordoquy at No.8 and bolstering the front-row with the inclusion of Nicolas Mas.
Raphael Lakafia and Luc Ducalcon make way, dropping out of the squad altogether, while Fabrice Estebanez also misses out after recieving a three-week ban for a dangerous tackle at the weekend.
Eight members of the team involved in February’s 17-9 defeat to England at Twickenham in last season's RBS 6 Nations will feature from the start of the Eden Park showdown as France tackle their RWC nemesis.
France team to play England
M Medard, V Clerc, A Rougerie, M Mermoz, A Palisson, M Parra, D Yachvili; J-B Poux, W Servat, N Mas, P Pape, L Nallet, T Dusautoir (capt), J Bonnaire, I Harinordoquy
Replacements: D Szarzewski, F Barcella, J Pierre, L Picamoles, F Trinh-Duc, D Marty, C Heymans
