Biarritz flanker set for France bow
Wenceslas Lauret will make his international debut for France against South Africa on Saturday after being named in the starting XV by Marc Lievremont for the clash at Newlands.
The 21-year-old Biarritz flanker beat Louis Picamoles to the loose forward slot after a disappointing RBS 6 Nations campaign by the Toulouse player.
Les Bleus are without some of their key players for the one-off Test in Cape Town, with Imanol Harinordoquy, Mathieu Bastareaud and Yannick Jauzion all missing.
And the coach is expecting the world champions to pose a bigger threat this weekend than they did last November, when the hosts ran out 20-13 winners in Toulouse.
Lievremont said: “They will certainly be better than they were in Toulouse.
“The Bok team will be better and fresher. They had to face us after a long season last year.
“They will also be more aggressive against us than they were against Wales (Saturday’s 34-31 win) in Cardiff.”
France team to play South Africa on Saturday is: C Poitrenaud (Toulouse); V Clerc (Toulouse), D Marty (Perpignan), M Mermoz (Perpignan), A Rougerie (Clermont); F Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), M Parra (Clermont); T Domingo (Clermont), D Szarzewski (Stade Francais), N Mas (Perpignan), L Nallet (Racing-Metro), R Millo-Chluski (Toulouse), T Dusautoir (Toulouse), W Lauret (Biarritz), J Bonnaire (Clermont).
Replacements: G Guirado (Perpignan), JB Poux (Toulouse), J Pierre (Clermont), L Picamoles (Toulouse), D Yachvili (Biarritz), D Skrela (Toulouse), M Andreu (Castres).
