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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Tom Sunderland

Six Nations favourites France make one change ahead of crunch clash against Scotland

Flawless France have made a single changes to their XV ahead of Saturday's Six Nations examination in Edinburgh, where the table-toppers will be desperate for revenge against hosts Scotland.

Les Bleus suffered a shock 27-23 defeat to Gregor Townsend's men last year, stubbing out their title ambitions in a match they needed to win by 21 points in order to beat Wales to the crown.

Fabien Galthie's side look more ready for the honour this time around after beating Italy and Ireland, and the coach has unsurprisingly made minimal changes for France's first away fixture of the year.

Leading scorer Gabin Villiere will be a significant miss for the visitors, with Bordeaux's Yoram Moefana moving from centre to the wing as his replacement.

Antoine Dupont will again captain Six Nations leaders France in their third-round trip to Scotland on Saturday (ABACA/PA Images)

Star scrum-half and constant source of opposition terror, Antoine Dupont, has been retained as captain in Charles Ollivon's absence, hoping to surge after an electric start to the competition.

Both he and tighthead prop Cyril Baille keep their places in the XV after the pair came up with France's two tries in their recent 30-24 defeat of Ireland.

Winger Villiere is the top try-scorer in the competition following his hat-trick in the 37-10 win over Italy, but he won't be available in the third round due to a facial injury.

Moefana will look to fill that gap as Clermont's Damian Penaud lines up on the other wing, while centre Jonathan Danty is back in the midfield alongside Gael Fickou.

It's also worth noting Galthie has opted for a 5-3 split between forwards and backs on his bench, with Toulouse's twinkle-toed winger Matthis Lebel coming into the squad for a potential second cap.

Les Bleus are under pressure to perform after fending off the challenge of their main competition for the title, Ireland, but meeting expectations in clutch moments has been a burden in the past decade.

Scotland lost away to Wales in the second round of the tournament but surprised England 20-17 at home in their opener, a hint at the atmosphere that awaits in Edinburgh.

France emerged as 22-15 victors when they last visited Murrayfield in the 2020 Autumn Nations Cup, but they had in fact lost in four consecutive trips to Edinburgh prior to that.

That's nothing compared to the seven straight defeats they suffered in Scotland's capital between 1923 and 1950, but it does hint at the bounds in progress their hosts have made in recent years.

France team vs. Scotland

(Backs) Melvyn Jaminet; Damian Penaud, Gael Fickou, Jonathan Danty, Yoram Moefana; Romain Ntamack, Antoine Dupont (capt); (Forwards) Cyril Baille, Julien Marchand, Uini Atonio; Cameron Woki, Paul Willemse; Francois Cros, Anthony Jelonch, Gregory Alldritt

Reps: Peato Mauvaka, Jean-Baptiste Gros, Demba Bamba, Romain Taofifenua, Thibaud Flament, Maxime Lucu, Thomas Ramos, Matthis Lebel

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