France back Jalibert at flyhalf in Rugby World Cup warm-up against Wallabies

Matthieu Jalibert will start at flyhalf in France's final Rugby World Cup warm-up match against Australia this weekend, head coach Fabien Galthie announced on Thursday.

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Jalibert, 24, stands in for the injured Romain Ntamack, who will miss the tournament with a serious knee injury.

Galthie's choice for Sunday's game in Paris is a strong hint that 25-time international Jalibert will wear the No 10 shirt against three-time winners New Zealand in the World Cup opener on 8 September.

"Getting close to 30 caps is a real milestone, he's in the process of reaching a milestone in his growth, and also with his individual and collective experience with the squad," Galthie told reporters.

"There's no debate about his potential, and his ability to handle the position of No 10 before playing Australia.

"For the future, we'll announce the team for New Zealand as usual nearer that game."

Former Test captain Galthie has made 10 changes from last weekend's win over Fiji, naming his likely starting line-up for the fixture with the All Blacks next month.

On the bench, prop Sebastien Taofifenua is set for his first Test appearance since November 2017 and will line up alongside his brother, lock Romain.

Front-rower Taofifenua is included despite missing out on a place in the final 33-man squad for the World Cup, which was announced on Monday, and being omitted for their two-month training preparation this summer.

"We've followed him. It's something we prepared," Galthie said.

"We predicted that we could have an anomaly around some players which would allow us to give out game time to other players."

Earlier this month, media reports claimed the game at the Stade