Thursday 23 February 2017 17:56, UK
France have made three changes to their starting line-up for Saturday's Six Nations clash with Ireland at the Aviva Stadium.
Stade Francais prop Rabah Slimani, Racing 92 flanker Bernard Le Roux and flying Toulouse wing Yoann Huget come in for Uini Atonio, Loann Goujon and Virimi Vakatawa respectively.
New Zealand-born wing Vakatawa has a thigh injury while La Rochelle prop Atonio makes way for Slimani, who scored a try against England in the narrow 19-16 defeat at Twickenham.
La Rochelle back-row forward Goujon has been ruled out of the rest of the tournament following a clash of heads in the match against Scotland.
The 27-year-old fractured a bone in his sinuses which ruled him out for at least a month.
Racing 92 centre Henry Chavancy is called up to the bench along with flanker Charles Ollivon, prop Eddy Ben Arous and wing Djibril Camara.
But there is no place for bulldozing centre Mathieu Bastareaud, who misses the Ireland match after suffering a concussion.
Coach Guy Noves said Slimani has been recalled to the starting line-up to combat Ireland's power in the scrum.
"Rabah was convincing each time he came on, the scrum is one of Ireland's strong points. It was logical to allow him to start - he is a very serious and very fit boy," Noves said.
France: 15 Scott Spedding, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Remi Lamerat, 12 Gael Fickou, 11 Noa Nakaitaci, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Baptiste Serin; 1 Cyril Baille, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 3 Rabah Slimani, 4 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 5 Yoann Maestri, 6 Bernard Le Roux, 7 Kevin Gourdon, 8 Louis Picamoles.
Replacements: 16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Uini Atonio, 18 Eddy Ben Arous, 19 Julien Le Devedec, 20 Charles Ollivon, 21 Maxime Machenaud, 22 Henry Chavancy, 23 Djibril Camara.
