Jauzion, on the other hand, was omitted as young Perpignan centre Maxime Mermoz’ good form earned him a recall.

Mermoz will start alongside Aurélien Rougerie – the Clermont captain one of the few players to survive after France’s thrashing against Australia in November.

Bayonne winger Yoann Huget is the other surprise as he keeps his place on the wing ahead of Toulouse flyer Vincent Clerc, but Maxime Médard’s sensational scoring form was good enough to earn him a recall.

Meanwhile Clément Poitrenaud and David Skrela’s versatility are enough to sneak a place on the bench ahead of Jauzion and Clerc.

And having been injured in November, François Trinh-Duc returns at fly-half to pair up with Morgan Parra.

In the pack there were fewer surprises with the front five which were so impressive last year and all of the quintet are retained.

And in the back row Imanol Harinordoquy returns to the side after his surprising omission against Australia.

The 30-year-old Basque will play at No.8 alongside Julien Bonnaire and captain Thierry Dusautoir, while Sébastien Chabal drops down to the bench.

15 – Damien Traille (Biarritz)
14 – Yoann Huget (Bayonne)
13 – Aurélien Rougerie (Clermont
12 – Maxime Mermoz (Perpignan)
11 – Maxime Médard (Toulouse)
10 – François Trinh-Duc (Montpellier)
9 – Morgan Parra (Clermont)
1 – Thomas Domingo (Clermont)
2 – William Servat (Toulouse)
3 – Nicolas Mas (Perpignan)
4 – Julien Pierre (Clermont)
5 – Lionel Nallet (Racing)
6 – Julien Bonnaire (Clermont)
7 – Thierry Dusautoir (Toulouse) Captain
8 – Imanol Harinordoquy (Biarritz)

Replacements :
16 – Guilhem Guirado (Perpignan)
17 – Luc Ducalcon (Castres)
18 – Jérôme Thion (Biarritz)
19 – Sébastien Chabal (Racing)
20 – Dmitri Yachvili (Biarritz)
21 – David Skrela (Toulouse)
22 – Clément Poitrenaud (Toulouse)