France coach Philippe Saint-Andre has dropped experienced halves Morgan Parra and Francois Trinh-Duc for the Six Nations match against England on Sunday, replacing them with Julien Dupuy at scrumhalf and Lionel Beauxis at flyhalf.
Saint-Andre made no other changes from the team that rallied from a 17-6 halftime deficit to draw 17-17 last weekend.
Centre Aurelien Rougerie was tipped to lose his place after giving away a try against Ireland with an intercepted pass but he keeps his spot.
Parra helped France get the draw by kicking four clinical penalties but he and Trinh-Duc failed to get France’s attacking game going.
Beauxis has a chance to banish memories of the last time he faced England – the World Cup semi-final loss at Stade de France in 2007 – and Saint-Andre says the fact he used to play club rugby alongside Dupuy at club level will help the pair settle in quickly on Sunday.
“It’s a coherent choice. They’ve been used to playing with each other at Stade Francais,” Saint-Andre said.
“Lionel’s been in the squad from the outset. It’s a change of strategy.
“We’ve struggled at the start of games, to get out of our own 20 metres. We need a long kicking game to counter the English.”
The 26-year-old Beauxis has been in fine form for Toulouse, and is likely to take the kicking duties against England, even though Dupuy is also a recognised penalty kicker. Beauxis kicked all of France’s points when it lost 14-9 to England in the 2007 semi-final.
Rougerie started the tournament well with a dominant performance, capped by a try, in the 30-12 win against Italy but the veteran had a poor game in the 23-17 win away to Scotland and his telegraphed pass across the line gave Tommy Bowe an easy first try for Ireland.
Maxime Mermoz, who played alongside Rougerie in the World Cup final defeat to New Zealand last year, was touted to replace him but Saint-Andre has decided to give Rougerie another chance.
Hooker Dimitri Szarzewski keeps his place after an improved performance against Ireland, with William Servat a useful option to bring on in the second half when England tire.
France need to beat England at Stade de France to stand a realistic chance of winning the Six Nations title. They then travel to face Wales, who have won all three games and have a comfortable looking home game against Italy before taking on the French.
France: Clement Poitrenaud, Vincent Clerc, Aurelien Rougerie, Wesley Fofana, Julien Malzieu, Julien Dupuy, Lionel Beauxis; Imanol Harinordoquy, Julien Bonnaire, Thierry Dusautoir (capt), Yoann Maestri, Pascal Pape, Nicolas Mas, Dimitri Szarzewski, Jean-Baptiste Poux. Res: William Servat, Vincent Debaty, Lionel Nallet, Louis Picamoles, Francois Trinh-Duc, Morgan Parra, Maxime Mermoz.
