Jalibert at fly-half as France make two changes to starting XV against England

France’s Matthieu Jalibert will start at fly-half against England in the Six Nations on Saturday in place of the suspended Romain Ntamack, one of two changes from the team that beat Wales in the opening game.

Jalibert asked to be sent back to his club, Bordeaux-Begles, when he was left out of the 23 to face the All Blacks having been second in the pecking order at flyhalf to Thomas Ramos during last November’s autumn series but the France head coach, Fabien Galthié, said there was no grudge held against the 26-year-old.

“There is no power struggle with the player. The power struggle is on the field, for us,” Galthié said when announcing the match-day squad on Thursday in Marcoussis. “When you make decisions you work on a daily basis on the players’ form and the possible pairings. When we saw Ntamack picked up a red card we started to work with the staff right away and Matthieu Jalibert was the obvious choice. He was always eligible.

“We felt he needed some air to regenerate. Our proposal was for him to get out of this closed-door environment to regenerate but we stayed in contact with him and his club.”

Ntamack picked up a yellow card for a shoulder-to-head tackle on Ben Thomas late in France’s 43-0 drubbing of Wales in their opening Six Nations fixture on Friday, which was upgraded to a red card following a review. The disciplinary committee determined that the mid-range entry point of six weeks/matches was appropriate but reduced it to three after the player accepted he committed an act of foul play, along with Ntamack’s exemplary disciplinary record.

Damian Penaud, who missed the Wales game with a toe injury, will start on the wing. Penaud has scored 36 tries for Les Bleus and is only two shy of Serge Blanco’s record.

While he could have at least matched the mark against Wales as France ran in seven tries, it might be a tougher challenge against England. “They will be ferocious,” Galthié warned. “Even if their results are not as good as they expected, they are often close to winning.”

France team Ramos; Penaud, Barassi, Moefana, Bielle-Biarrey; Jalibert, Dupont (capt); Gros, Mauvaka, Atonio, Roumat, Meafou, Cros, Boudehent, Alldritt.
Replacements: Marchand, Baille, Colombe, Auradou, Guillard, Jegou, Le Garrec, Gailleton.