Marc Lievremont's decision to give four players their first caps in Murryafield this weekend has raised eyebrows but the new coach has total faith in his recruits ahead of Sunday's Six Nations clash with Scotland.
Outhalf Francois Trinh-Duc, winger Julien Malzieu and props Lionel Faure and Julien Brugnaut will make their Les Bleus debuts this weekend.
Flanker Fulgence Ouedraogo and lock Loic Jacquet, who have just three caps between them, also start.
Only six players in Lievremont's line-up featured at last year's World Cup, and the team have an inexperienced look about them as they look to defend a title they have claimed the last two years.
Lievremont is confident, however, the newcomers have what it takes to make a smooth transition onto the international scene.
"They are not here just to have walk-on parts," said the former Dax coach, who will have two other uncapped players — 19-year-old scrumhalf Morgan Parra and lock Arnaud Mela — on the bench.
"We want to see them. Some start, some don't. The main thing that concerns us is the homogeneity and the blending between the old guys and the new ones.
"We have spoken a lot these last few days about confidence and taking the initiative; now, we must prove it.
"We have full confidence in them. We are delighted because you would have thought these kids would be a bit timid, but they have done a lot.
"There is a great atmosphere on and off the pitch."
Of the gambles the new Les Bleus coach is taking, the selection of Trinh-Duc at the problem position of number 10 is the biggest.
The Montpellier outhalf, who displaces David Skrela from the line-up, has been in good form for his club this season and Lievremont knows him from the pair's time in the Under-21 set-up.
Lievremont believes Murrayfield is the right stage to introduce the 21-year-old.
"Francois Trinh-Duc has fully reassured us of his potential and his intentions," he added. "We must see him. Would it have been wiser to see him start in Paris where there will be more pressure on him?
"Should we leave him on the bench and risk having a lack of experience at the end of the match with him and Morgan Parra on the field?
"We are confident that he should start with (Jean-Baptiste) Elissalde at halfback and the centre pairing of (Damien) Traille and (Florian) Fritz by his side."
Ouedraogo, 21, surprisingly gets the nod over World Cup star Julien Bonnaire at flanker and in-form William Servat beats Dimitri Szarzewski to the hooker role.
Castres lock Lionel Nallet is named as captain for the first time and partners Clermont-Auvergne's Jacquet in the secondrow.
Cedric Heymans, a winger by trade, will fill in at fullback, while Fritz returns from the international wilderness to partner Traille in midfield in theabsence of Yannick Jauzion.
With prop Jean-Baptiste Poux (quadriceps) ruled out yesterday, Nicolas Mas has been called up and is on the bench.
France: C Heymans (Toulouse); J Malzieu (Clermont-Auvergne), F Fritz (Toulouse), D Traille (Biarritz), V Clerc (Toulouse); F Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), J-B Elissalde (Toulouse); L Faure (Sale), W Servat (Toulouse), J Brugnaut (Dax), L Nallet (Castres, capt), L Jacquet (Clermont-Auvergne), F Ouedraogo (Montpellier), T Dusautoir (Toulouse), E Vermeulen (Clermont-Auvergne). Replacements: N Mas (Perpignan), D Szarzewski (Stade Francais), A Mela (Albi), J Bonnaire (Clermont-Auvergne), M Parra (Bourgoin), D Skrela (Stade Francais), A Rougerie (Clermont-Auvergne).
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