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SA-born trio retain France spots

Marcoussis - France coach Philippe Saint-Andre has called up prop Eddy Ben Arous to face Ireland in the Six Nations in Dublin on Saturday in the sole change to the team that beat Scotland 15-8 in their opening fixture.

Racing-Metro's Ben Arous, 24, replaces the injured Alexandre Menini for a first start for Les Bleus, having made his debut off the bench against New Zealand last June.

The 25-times capped Vincent Debaty takes his place among the replacements for what promises to be a tough match at Lansdowne Road against an Irish side that kicked off their Six Nations campaign with a 26-3 win over Italy.

Saint-Andre opted not to reshuffle his team, heavily criticised in the French media over the quality of their play in the victory over Scotland.

Scrumhalf Morgan Parra will consider himself unlucky not to be starting given his impressive cameo performance when he came on for South Africa-born Rory Kockott last weekend.

Kockott again pairs up with Castres team-mate Camille Lopez, Saint-Andre saying: "Rory also did some interesting things in his first start and he deserves to carry on with Camille for this match."

Another South African, Scott Spedding, also keeps his place at fullback, Saint-Andre resisting the urge to rush Brice Dulin back from a bicep injury.

No 8 Bernard le Roux, (also South African-born) gets to add to his number of French caps alongside Damien Chouly and skipper Thierry Dusautoir in the loose trio.

Teams:

Ireland

TBA

France

15 Scott Spedding, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Teddy Thomas, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Rory Kockott, 8 Bernard Le Roux, 7 Damien Chouly, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (captain), 5 Pascal Pape, 4 Yoann Maestri, 3 Rabah Slimani,2  Guilhem Guirado, 1 Eddy Ben Arous

Substitutes: 16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Uini Atonio, 18 Vincent Debaty, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Loann Goujon, 21 Morgan Parra, 22 Remi Tales, 23 Remi Lamerat

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