France take on England in the 2025 Six Nations championships on Saturday afternoon at Twickenham in south-west London, hoping to emulate their exploits of two years ago when they annihilated their hosts 53-10 to register a record win over their rivals in 117 years of competition.
Damian Penaud scored a brace in the seven-try rout and the 28-year-old returns from injury to the fold on the wing at the expense of Theo Attissogbe.
A repeat performance of his March 2023 exploits will take Penaud level with Serge Blanco's record of 38 tries for France's senior men's rugby union team.
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"It's been a year since Damian has played for us," said France boss Fabien Galthié. "I think he must be hungry, very hunrgy. He's a finisher, who threatens the balance of attack. He's always ready to accept his responsibilities, always played well, even very well," he added.
Penaud has been in scintillating form for his club side l'Union Bordeaux Bègles. He has scored 15 tries in 12 games to help his team to top spot in the French Top 14.
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In other changes to the side that destroyed Wales 43-0 in the opening game of the tournament, Galthié handed the fly-half role to Mathieu Jalibert.
Last week's choice, Romain Ntamack, marked his return from injuries to the team with a red card in the 72nd minute for a dangerous tackle on his Wales counterpart Ben Thomas. Ntamack will be on the sidelines for at least a fortnight.
"Once we saw Romain's red card, we started to work on a solution that same night," Galthie added. "From that moment, the option of Matthieu Jalibert came clear. It's obvious, it's coherent, it's logical."
Starting line-up
Jalibert will feature in the starting line-up for the first time since 25 February 2024 when France drew 13-13 with Italy in the third game of the 2024 Six Nations.
In November's test against Japan, Galthié preferred to play the full-back Thomas Ramos in the fly-half role in the starting team. Though Jalibert entered the fray during the 52-12 victory, he failed to make the squad for the Tests against Argentina and New Zealand.
"Matthieu is an example of a top quality player who has experienced good and bad moments," added Galthié.
Oscar Jégou and Hugo Auradou, who were cleared in December of raping a woman in Argentina during France's summer tour of South America, have been selected among the substitutes.
Last week, each of the pair was jeered by sections of the crowd when they took to the field at the Stade de France.
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England, who lost their opening match against Ireland in Dublin, will step out with Fin Smith pulling the strings at fly-half. His namesake, Marcus, who played in the slot in Ireland, moves to full-back with Freddie Steward dropping out of the squad.
England head coach Steve Borthwick has drafted in Ollie Sleightholme on the wing in place of the injured Cadan Murley. In a front line reshuffle, Tom Willis has been added and Ben Curry drops to the bench.
“I think Marcus is a game-changer," said Borthwick. "He’s a player who can do things very few of the players in the world can do, and I want him to bring all those natural instincts onto the field in an England shirt.
“I want those natural instincts on the pitch. He sees space that other players don’t. He has an ability to find gaps in defences that most people don’t know are there."
In the other games of the second round, Italy host Wales with both teams seeking their first win of the 2025 tournament.
On Sunday at Murrayfield in Edinburgh, Scotland host defending champions Ireland who are seeking to become the first country to win three titles on the trot since the Five Nations tournament became the Six Nations in 2000.
