| Edinburgh prop Allan Jacobsen, who damaged his shoulder in the game against Cardiff Blues on Friday night, has withdrawn from the squad and is expected to be out for six weeks. Meanwhile Number 8 Ross Beattie has returned to his club, Northampton Saints, after failing to recover sufficiently from a knock to his head and neck in the Zurich Premiership match against Sale Sharks on Saturday. Scotland will name their team later this week.
France coach Bernard Laporte has named his selection with wholesale changes to the team that lost to New Zealand in the Autumn internationals, Pierre Mignoni and Yann Delaigue form the half back pairing, and Sébastien Chabal, now playing his rugby in the English Premiership with Sale Sharks, covers in a reshaped the back row.
France: Pépito Elhorga (Agen); Aurélien Rougerie (Clermont), Brian Liebenberg (Stade Français), Damien Traille (Biarritz), Christophe Dominici (Stade Français); Yann Delaigue (Castres), Pierre Mignoni (Clermont); Sylvain Marconnet (Stade Français), William Servat (Stade Toulousain), Pieter de Villiers (Stade Français); Fabien Pelous (Stade Toulousain, captain), Jérôme Thion (Biarritz); Julien Bonnaire (Bourgoin), Sébastien Chabal (Sale Sharks), Patrick Tabacco (Pau),
Replacements: Sébastien Bruno (Sale), Olivier Milloud (Bourgoin), Grégory Lamboley (Stade Toulousain), Yannick Nyanga (Béziers), Dimitri Yachvili (Biarritz), Frédéric Michalak (Stade Toulousain), Ludovic Valbon (Brive).
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