France stick with winning formula
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France have stuck true to their winning formula by naming the same starting team that defeated Fiji 40-15 last weekend for their clash with Australia.
There were no injury concerns in the French camp and as such coach Philippe Saint-Andre decided to keep faith in his players.
"All the players who started (against Fiji) are at 100 percent and we wanted to go further with this team," Saint-Andre said.
France picked up their first win of three November Tests last Saturday, boosting their confidence ahead of the game against the Wallabies, a side that put the French to the sword in June when they played in Australia.
"We will have to raise our level against one of the top nations in the world," Saint-Andre added.
"We will need to play more smoothly than against Fiji, and to be more accurate."
For the coach, it is about playing an 80 minute game against Australia in order to get the confidence right ahead of the World Cup next year.
"Defensively, we must be more thorough during 80 minutes. Against Fiji, we missed too many tackles," he said.
"We will also need to reposition ourselves more quickly [from turn-overs]."
France, however, must also be ready to give more offensively against a team who score a lot of points but also concede a lot, according to Saint-Andre.
Australia beat Wales 33-28 at the Millennium Stadium last Saturday.
Should things get tight, Saint-Andre has retained Sebastien Tillous-Bordes and Camille Lopez at No.9 and No.10 respectively and he is banking on his flyhalf to kick France to victory.
"I think we will need a kicking percentage of about 80 percent," Saint-Andre added.
France: 15 Scott Spedding, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Alexandre Dumoulin, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Teddy Thomas, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Sébastien Tillous-Borde, 8 Damien Chouly, 7 Bernard Le Roux, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (captain), 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Pascal Papé, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Alexandre Menini.
Replacements from: Xavier Chiocci, Benjamin Kayser, Uini Atonio, Alexandre Flanquart, Sébastien Vahaamahina, Charles Ollivon, Rory Kockott, Rémi Talès, Maxime Mermoz, Mathieu Bastareaud.
Date: Saturday, November 15
Venue: Stade de France, Paris
Kick-off: 21.00 (20.00 GMT; 07.00 Sunday, November 16 Australian eastern time)
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: Wayne Barnes (England), Marius Mitrea (Italy)
TMO: Graham Hughes (England)
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