France coach Galthie reveals playmaker change for England clash

TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Matthieu Jalibert replaces the suspended Romain Ntamack for France’s Six Nations game at England this weekend, head coach Fabien Galthie announced on Thursday.

Bordeaux-Begles’ Jalibert is one of two changes from last weekend’s tournament-opening win over Wales with Damian Penaud on the wing instead of Theo Attissogbe for Saturday’s match at Twickenham.

Ntamack misses the trip to London after being banned for making a high tackle on Wales’ Ben Thomas with Jalibert stepping in to partner Antoine Dupont at halfback.

Jalibert, 26, will play his first Test since leaving the set-up in November for personal reasons.

France: 15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Pierre-Louis Barassi, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Antoine Dupont (captain), 8 Gregory Alldritt, 7 Paul Boudehent, 6 Francois Cros, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Alexandre Roumat, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros.
Replacements: 16 Julien Marchand, 17 Cyril Baille, 18 Georges-Henri Colombe, 19 Hugo Auradou, 20 Mickael Guillard, 21 Oscar Jegou, 22 Nolann Le Garrec, 23 Emilien Gailleton.

Date: Saturday, February 8
Venue: Twickenham Stadium, London
Kick-off: 16.45 (17.45 CET; 16.45 GMT)
Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)
Assistant referees: Andrea Piardi (Italy), Damian Schneider (Argentina)
TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)