Rugby-Ntamack back at flyhalf in French team to face New Zealand

Our opponents won't be the same ones who were in Dublin last year." Team: 15-Melvyn Jaminet, 14-Damian Penaud, 13-Gael Fickou, 12-Jonathan Danty, 11-Gabin Villiere, 10-Romain Ntamack, 9-Antoine Dupont (captain); 8-Gregory Alldritt, 7-Anthony Jelonch, 6-Francois Cros, 5-Paul Willemse, 4-Cameron Woki, 3-Uini Atonio, 2-Peato Mauvaka, 1-Cyril Baille Replacements: 16-Gaetan Barlot, 17-Jean-Baptiste Gros, 18-Demba Bamba, 19-Romain Taofifenua, 20-Thibaud Flament, 21-Dylan Cretin, 22-Maxime Lucu, 23-Matthieu Jalibert.

Mercurial Romain Ntamack has been restored to the flyhalf position to renew his half-back partnership with captain Antoine Dupont when France face New Zealand in their final autumn international series fixture at the Stade de France on Saturday.

Ntamack played at inside centre in test wins over Argentina and Georgia earlier this month to allow coach Fabien Galthie to field Matthieu Jalibert in the number 10 jersey. The latter drops to the bench. "We had two tests to try this association (of Ntamack and Jalibert) out and after a dozen training sessions and those two tests, we've decided to change our lineup," Galthie told reporters on Thursday.

"Gael Fickou and Jonathan Danty have a lot of experience together at centre and Romain and Antoine also have experience together. So we picked that formula to start the game. It's a performance-oriented choice, not a choice by default." Danty takes Ntamack's place among the centres, where he will partner Fickou, while the back three is made up of wings Gabin Villiere and Damian Penaud, with Melvyn Jaminet at fullback.

France could revert to their tactics of abandoning possession, a strategy Galthie implements to "find space". "Sometimes it makes sense to abandon possession, sometimes it's the most intelligent thing to do. Our goal is to catch the opponents' defence by surprise, make them feel like they have no guarantees."

Francois Cros comes into the loose forwards in place of Sekou Makalou, with Anthony Jelonch switching from the number six to seven jersey and Gregory Alldritt at the back of the scrum. "We have good balance in the third row," said Galthie. "They're experienced players with a lot of character."

Paul Willemse is recalled at lock to partner Cameron Woki, while the front row is made up of props Uini Atonio and Cyril Baille, and hooker Peato Mauvaka, who was handed a place in the starting lineup following a brilliant performance against Georgia after he replaced the injured Julien Marchand. France have beaten Argentina 29-20 and Georgia 41-15 in the autumn series, but Saturday's challenge will be a considerable step up.

Their last home win against the All Blacks was a 42-33 victory in Marseille in 2000, while their previous win in Paris came in 1973. New Zealand lost 29-20 against Ireland last weekend but Galthie insisted Les Bleus would not copy the Irish.

"It was a different game... we're France, not Ireland," he said. "We have our own history that we've started two years ago. Our opponents won't be the same ones who were in Dublin last year." Team: 15-Melvyn Jaminet, 14-Damian Penaud, 13-Gael Fickou, 12-Jonathan Danty, 11-Gabin Villiere, 10-Romain Ntamack, 9-Antoine Dupont (captain); 8-Gregory Alldritt, 7-Anthony Jelonch, 6-Francois Cros, 5-Paul Willemse, 4-Cameron Woki, 3-Uini Atonio, 2-Peato Mauvaka, 1-Cyril Baille

Replacements: 16-Gaetan Barlot, 17-Jean-Baptiste Gros, 18-Demba Bamba, 19-Romain Taofifenua, 20-Thibaud Flament, 21-Dylan Cretin, 22-Maxime Lucu, 23-Matthieu Jalibert.

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