A week after their 27-13 win against the All Blacks in the tournament opener at Stade de France, France is expected to cruise to a comfortable win against Uruguay who will play in their first match of the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
France head coach Fabien Galthié has named Anthony Jelonch, returning from a knee injury sustained in late February to captain Les Bleus as their number eight in Lille on Thursday.
Galthié has made 12 changes to his starting XV from the side that defeated New Zealand in Rugby World Cup 2023's opening match, with only Cameron Woki, Gabin Villiere and Yoram Moefana retaining their starting berths.
Uruguay head coach Esteban Meneses has named his squad with Castres scrum-half Santiago Arata back in the starting XV after recovering from a hand injury.
Meneses has named an experienced line-up with 11 survivors in his starting team from RWC 2019 in Mateo Sanguinetti, Guillermo Pujadas, Manuel Leindeker, Manuel Ardao, Santiago Civetta, Manuel Diana, Santiago Arata, Felipe Etcheverry, Nicolas Freitas, Abdres Vilaseca and Tomas Inciarte, and a further three players on the bench.
Captain Andrés Vilaseca and Agustin Ormaechea will become the first Uruguayans to play at three Rugby World Cup tournaments and set a new appearance record in their ninth game.
Teams:
France: 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros, 2 Pierre Bourgarit, 3 Dorian Aldegheri, 4 Cameron Woki, 5 Romain Taofifenua, 6 Paul Boudehent, 7 Sekou Macalou, 8 Anthony Jelonch (c), 9 Maxime Lucu, 10 Antoine Hastoy, 11 Gabin Villière, 12 Yoram Moefana, 13 Arthur Vincent, 14 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 15 Melvyn Jaminet. Replacements: 16 Peato Mauvaka, 17 Reda Wardi, 18 Sipili Falatea, 19 Bastien Chalureau, 20 Thibaud Flament, 21 Francois Cros, 22 Baptiste Couilloud, 23 Thomas Ramos.
Uruguay: 1 Mateo Sanguinetti, 2 Guillermo Pujadas, 3 Ignacio Peculo, 4 Felipe Aliaga, 5 Manuel Leindekar, 6 Manuel Ardao, 7 Santiago Civetta, 8 Manuel Diana, 9 Santiago Arata, 10 Felipe Etcheverry, 11 Nicolas Freitas, 12 Andres Vilaseca (c), 13 Tomas Inciarte, 14 Bautista Basso, 15 Baltazar Amaya. Replacements: 16 Facundo Gattas, 17 Matias Benitez, 18 Reinaldo Piussi, 19 Ignacio Dotti, 20 Lucas Bianchi, 21 Carlos Deus, 22 Agustin Ormaechea, 23 Felipe Berchesi.
