Gaël Fickou captains France in the absence of Antoine Dupont and Grégory Alldritt.
France centre Gaël Fickou will captain the side against the Springboks at Stade de France on Saturday night, with several regular leaders sidelined through injury.
The match kicks off at 10.10pm SA time with France looking for revenge for their 2023 World Cup quarter-final exit – the last encounter between the teams.
That match was also played at Stade de France.
Usual captains Antoine Dupont (ACL) and Grégory Alldritt (groin) are out injured, with Dupont’s the more serious of the two. He ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament during the Six Nations back in March.
France name strong side to face Boks
The French side is otherwise bristling with stars.
South Africa have won two of their last three clashes against France, all played in France. Their last encounter was in the 2023 World Cup quarter-final, when SA won 29-28 at the same venue that October.
The Springboks lost 30-26 in Marseille in 2022 but also won 29-26 at Stade de France in 2018. They have 2-1 win record at the venue.
The Boks have won nine of their 11 matches so far this season but this will be one of the toughest on the calendar.
France are currently fifth in the World Rugby rankings but are 0.32 points off England in fourth, 1.03 points off Ireland in third and 3.96 points off New Zealand in second. A win could see them climb, and South Africa fall.
The Springboks will announce their team later on Thursday.
France starting XV: Thomas Ramos, Damian Penaud, Pierre-Louis Barassi, Gaël Fickou (c), Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Romain Ntamack, Nolann Le Garrec, Mickael Guillard, Paul Boudehent, Anthony Jelonch, Emmanuel Meafou, Thibaud Flament, Régis Montagne, Julien Marchand, Baptiste Erdocio.
Bench: Guillaume Cramont, Jean-Baptiste Gros, Dorian Aldegheri, Romain Taofifenua, Hugo Auradou, Oscar Jegou, Maxime Lucu, Nicolas Depoortere.
