France XV rugby squad against Fiji, Digi Mart USA News (Marcoussis, France): Training at Marcoussis on Monday showed that Fabien Galthié and his staff have made a slight change to the starting XV for Saturday’s match against Fiji at the Groupama Stadium in Lyon.
In the second row, Montpellier’s Florian Verhaeghe (29, 5 caps), who was absent last week, replaces Hugo Auradou in the probable lineup. A finalist in the Top 14 last June with MHR, the forward known for his toughness has benefited from a strong summer tour to secure a place alongside Lyon’s Mickaël Guillard.
There are also changes on the bench. At right prop, Clermont’s Régis Montagne (9 caps), also absent during the first week of training camp, pulled on the jersey on the 18th at the expense of Thomas Laclayat.
The presumed starter remains Bordeaux’s Sipili Falatea.
Another change among the replacements sees Charles Ollivon expected to join the bench, at the expense of Hugo Auradou, who would therefore drop out of the 23.
Galthié will announce his team on Thursday at 11 a.m. for the first match of the new Nations Championship, in which the Bleus will face South Africa and then Argentina before heading to Twickenham for the finals weekend.
Probable France starting XV against Fiji: 15 Attissogbe, 14 Grandidier-Nkanang, 13 Gourgues, 12 Moefana, 11 Bielle-Biarrey; 10 Ntamack, 9 Dupont; 8 Cros, 7 Woki, 6 Boudehent; 5 Guillard, 4 Verhaeghe; 3 Falatea, 2 Lamothe, 1 Gros.
Replacements: 16 Mauvaka, 17 Poirot, 18 Montagne, 19 Ollivon, 20 Staniforth, 21 Jegou, 22 Lucu, 23 Gailleton.
