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France Rugby Coach Brunel Deploys Young Guns For Scotland

By Paul Myers - RFI
Sports News Philippe LopezAFP
FEB 19, 2019 LISTEN
Philippe Lopez/AFP

France coach Jacques Brunel on Tuesday dropped experienced defenders Morgan Parra and Camille Lopez for the Six Nations match against Scotland in Paris on Saturday.

Parra, 30, and Lopez, 29, play for the Top 14 side Clermont and have 92 international caps between them.

But Brunel, who is trying to avoid a third consecutive defeat in the tournament, ditched them for the youthful Toulouse duo Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack.

At 22 and 19 respectively, they are considered future stars of the French game.

"Parra and Lopez haven't had the impact that we would have expected in the games against Wales and England ," said Brunel on Tuesday.

The 65-year-old took over as head coach in December 2017. But since replacing Guy Novès, he has not inspired the team to convincing performances.

In the first match of the 2019 Six Nations, France led Wales 16-0 at half-time at the Stade de France. But following a series of French errors, the Welsh came back to triumph 24-19.

At Twickenham in the second match, France were pulverized. England won 44-8 - the largest winning margin between the sides since England walloped the French 37-0 in the 1911 Five Nations championships.

In other changes for the game at the Stade de France, Wenceslas Lauret comes in for Yacouba Camara in the scrum.

Gael Fickou moves from the wing to the centre and Thomas Romas makes his first Test start as full-back with Yoann Huget, who played in the position against England, moving to the wing.

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