Fijian wingers to play for France vs Aust

Two wingers born in Fiji have been named in the French team to play Australia in Paris this weekend.

France coach Guy Noves has named Fijian-born wingers Noa Nakaitaci and Virimi Vakatawa as Les Bleus brace for a defensive challenge against Australia at the Stade de France on Saturday.

Vakatawa, who scored a hat-trick of tries in Saturday's 52-8 victory against Samoa, and his Clermont team mate Nakaitaci will start alongside centres Remi Lamerat and Wesley Fofana.

Noves made five changes to the team who thrashed Samoa, with Nakaitaci coming in for Huget and Jean-Marc Doussain taking over at flyhalf after Francois Trinh-Duc was ruled out of the series with a broken forearm.

In the back row, Charles Ollivon replaces Loann Goujon who is out injured while second rower Sebastien Vahamahina is taking Julien Le Devedec's place and prop Cyril Baille is getting his first start in place of the injured Jefferson Poirot.

For all their firepower at the back, however, France will need to put on a huge defensive display if they are to beat the Wallabies.

"We suffered for the first 4-5 minutes against Samoa but we must know that it's going to be the case for 80 minutes against Australia," Noves said.

"So defence will be very important. We haven't seen many weak points in their team. They are impressive in the way they keep the ball."

Australia started their November series with a 32-8 win against Wales before beating Scotland 23-22 last weekend.

Team:

Scott Spedding, Noa Nakaitaci, Remi Lamerat, Wesley Fofana, Virimi Vakatawa, Jean-Marc Doussain, Maxime Machenaud, Louis Picamoles, Kevin Gourdon, Charles Ollivon, Yoann Maestri, Sebastien Vahaamahina, Uini Atonio, Guilhem Guirado (captain), Cyril Baille

Replacements: Camille Chat, Xavier Chiocci, Rabah Slimani, Julien Le Devedec, Damien Chouly, Baptiste Serin, Camille Lopez, Gael Fickou


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Source: AAP


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