The French opened their Autumn Nations Series with a 52-12 Stade de France victory and they have now altered three backs and one forward for the visit of Scott Robertson’s New Zealand.
France will be without flanker Francois Cros and winger Damian Penaud for their clash with the All Blacks on Saturday.
France opened their Autumn Nations Series campaign in commanding form, dishing out a hefty defeat to an ambitious but outclassed Japan side.
France's uncapped duo of Joshua Brennan and Regis Montagne have dropped out of their 42-man squad as they prepare to face Japan on Saturday at the Stade de France.
France have sent 19 players back to their clubs for the next round of Top 14 action this weekend.
Antoine Dupont has returned to the France XVs squad after missing the first half of 2024 as he focussed on his ultra-successful switch to sevens.
Four times he has flown south from France in the last 13 months, his involvement at the 2023 and 2024 World Rugby U20 Championship sandwiching the trips he made in December and April with La Rochelle in the Champions Cup.
France, of course, had their dominance in this grade interrupted by the pandemic after their two-in-a-row of 2018 and 2019, but they ensured their methods of producing quality, title-winning players at this level didn’t fall into rack and ruin during the lay-off.
The French team's nerve-wracking tour of South America came to an end on Saturday, July 13th, with a 33-25 loss to the Pumas in Buenos Aires.