20 Sep 2011

Changes in French side to meet All Blacks

6:15 pm on 20 September 2011

Morgan Parra will start at first five-eighth for France in their key Rugby World Cup clash against the All Blacks at Eden Park on Saturday.

Coach Marc Lievremont again shuffled his pack and made numerous changes.

Parra switches from half-back to first five-eighth to take over from Francois Trinh-Duc after an impressive kicking display in the 46-19 Pool A win over Canada on Sunday. Dimitri Yachvili starts at halfback.

Captain Thierry Dusautoir returns to the side after missing the win over Canada and joins Julien Bonnaire and Louis Picamoles in the loose forwards.

Aurelien Rougerie, who stood in as captain against Canada, switches to centre with Maxime Medard taking over on the wing.

In the competitive position of hooker, Dimitri Szarzewski starts ahead of William Servat while lock Lionel Nallet returns in place of Romain Millo-Chluski.

New Zealand and France both won their opening two matches in Pool A with four-try bonus points and their clash is likely to decide the winners of the group.

France

Starting XV: Damien Traille, Vincent Clerc, Aurelien Rougerie, Maxime Mermoz, Maxime Medard, Morgan Parra, Dimitri Yachvili, Louis Picamoles, Julien Bonnaire, Thierry Dusautoir (captain), Lionel Nallet, Pascal Pape, Luc Ducalcon, Dimitri Szarzewski, Jean-Baptiste Poux.

Replacements: William Servat, Fabien Barcella, Julien Pierre, Imanol Harinordoquy, Francois Trinh-Duc, Fabrice Estebanez, Cedric Heymans.