Laporte rings the changes for England clash

France coach Bernard Laporte has made 13 changes for the second match of back-to-back World Cup warm-ups against England at Twickenham…

France coach Bernard Laporte has made 13 changes for the second match of back-to-back World Cup warm-ups against England at Twickenham on Saturday.

France beat England 17-16 in Marseille last weekend and have kept only winger Christophe Dominici and centre Yannick Jauzion.

"It's not an upheaval as we had decided to review all our players during these two games," said Laporte. "Those who didn't start in Marseille knew they would be fielded at Twickenham.

"We want to have 30 players able to play all at the same level. We wanted to review everyone and see how we can cope with England, one of the favourites if not the favourites of the World Cup.

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"I think the guys named today are happy to take up such a challenge," said team manager Jo Maso. "They are players who are aiming at being part of the World Cup.

"The English will be looking for revenge and obviously we are going to London with helmets and shoulder pads on as we can expect a hailstorm there," he said.

With one month to go before the start of the World Cup, the French have only two injured players.

New Zealand-born centre Tony Marsh is nursing a painful calf muscle while fullback Pepito Elhorga is recovering from a rib injury sustained during the 56-8 trashing of Romania two weeks ago.

"It's the reason why Dominici and Jauzion are going to start again on Saturday," Laporte said.

Props Olivier Milloud and Jean-Baptiste Poux replace Jean-Jacques Crenca and Sylvain Marconnet respectively while hooker Raphael Ibanez comes in for Yannick Bru.

Locks David Auradou and Olivier Brouzet will take over from Toulouse's Fabien Pelous, who is rested, and Jerome Thion, who starts on the bench.

Flankers Patrick Tabacco and Sebastien Chabal and number eight Christian Labit complete the pack.

The influential Serge Betsen is also rested while Olivier Magne and Imanol Harinordoquy are replacements for what looks like a tough challenge against the European champions.

Dimitri Yachvili and Gerald Merceron take over from inspirational captain Fabien Galthie, who hands his armband to Ibanez, and flyhalf Frederic Michalak respectively at half-back.

Brian Liebenberg earns his first cap in the centre. Fullback Clement Poitrenaud is named in place of Nicolas Brusque.

Asked if he fears a heavy defeat at Twickenham, Laporte said: "We'll see, and at least we will learn something."

Team: 15-Clement Poitrenaud; 14-Xavier Garbajosa, 13-Yannick Jauzion, 12-Brian Liebenberg, 11-Christophe Dominici; 10-Gerald Merceron, 9-Dimitri Yachvili; 8-Christian Labit, 7-Sebastien Chabal, 6-Patrick Tabacco, 5-Olivier Brouzet, 4-David Auradou, 3-Jean-Baptiste Poux, 2-Raphael Ibanez (captain), 1-Olivier Milloud

Replacements: 16-Yannick Bru, 17-Sylvain Marconnet, 18-Jerome Thion, 19-Imanol Harinordoquy, 20-Olivier Magne, 21-Frederic Michalak, 22-Aurelien Rougerie.