Toulon flanker Charles Ollivon will captain France in this season’s Six Nations Championship in Europe.
The 26-year-old’s first match in charge is against England at Stade de France on February 2.
Ollivon, whose appointment was announced by the French Rugby Federation, takes over from Guilhem Guirado, who has retired from Test rugby.
It is the first key playing appointment of new Les Blues’ head coach Fabien Galthie’s reign.
“I will take advantage of every second because it is a great honour,” Ollivon told the FFR website.
“Fabien (Galthie) called me when I was at home. It was a special moment. I look forward to starting this new adventure.”
Galthie, meanwhile, has named a 42-man squad ahead of the tournament, including 19 uncapped players.
The list of international rookies includes Lyon lock Killian Geraci, Clermont Auvergne back-row forward Alexandre Fischer, plus backs Maxime Lucu, Louis Carbonel and Arthur Vincent.
“We focused on the strengths we had without solely focusing on England. Our choices are balanced with an average age of 24. We are aware that it’s a young and inexperienced squad,” Galthie, who was Jacques Brunel’s assistant coach at the World Cup, told a news conference on Wednesday.
France were knocked out in the quarter-finals in Japan and they have not won the Six Nations since 2010.
“We want to give these players the desire to become a great nation of rugby again,” said Galthie.