PARIS : France have lost flying winger Damian Penaud to injury for their Six Nations clash against Wales, adding to a list of key players unavailable for the tournament opener at the Stade de France on Friday.
Penaud had been expected to return to the team but suffered a toe injury in training and Theo Attissogbe will line up on the wing instead in the team announced on Wednesday.
France are already without veteran centre Gael Fickou, lock Thibaud Flament and loose forward Charles Ollivon, with coach Fabien Galthie making five changes in total from their last outing in November when they beat Argentina 37-23 in Paris.
Romain Ntamack is back at flyhalf, which pushes Thomas Ramos to fullback in place of Leo Barre while Pierre-Louis Barassi replaces Fickou in the midfield and Attissogbe takes Gabin Villiere’s place on the wing.
Former captain Gregory Alldritt returns to the back of the pack in place of Ollivon after being dropped ahead of the win over Argentina while Alexandre Roumat is in for Flament.
On the bench, Galthie has included Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jegou, who debuted in Argentina last year but were then arrested on rape charges that were later dropped.
Team: 15-Leo Barre, 14-Theo Attissogbe, 13-Pierre-Louis Barassi, 12-Yoram Moefana, 11-Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10-Romain Ntamack, 9-Antoine Dupont (captain), 8-Gregory Alldritt, 7-Paul Boudehent, 6-Francois Cros, 5-Emmanuel Meafou, 4-Alexandre Roumat, 3-Uini Atonio, 2-Peato Mauvaka, 1-Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements: 16-Julien Marchand, 17-Cyril Baille, 18-Georges-Henri Colombe, 19-Hugo Auradou, 20-Mickel Guillard, 21-Oscar Jegou, 22-Nolann Le Garrec, 23-Emilien Gailleton.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
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