The men of the first fall rendezvous are known.
The coach and manager of the XV of France, Fabien Galthié and Raphaël Ibañez, unveiled Thursday noon the composition of the Blues to challenge Argentina on Saturday evening (9 p.m.) at the Stade de France, the inaugural deadline of a triptych which must also confront them to Georgia and then to New Zealand.
And to rub shoulders with the Pumas, the French staff rely on a team whose backbone has been widely announced by the training of the last ten days.
Point visible for days, but major: the joint tenure of Matthieu Jalibert and Romain Ntamack.
The management of the XV of France has solved its problem of the rich by aligning its two numbers 10, authors of an XXL start to the season respectively with Bordeaux-Bègles and Toulouse.
But the number 10 will go on the back of Jalibert, associated with the hinge with the neo-captain Antoine Dupont, while Ntamack will be associated in a three-quarter center position with Gaël Fickou.
Thibaud Flament, premiere
Aligned three times in a row this summer in Australia for his first capes, Perpignan player Melvyn Jaminet will again start at the back on Saturday night. And, a sign of the confidence of his coaches, he will be the team's scorer instead of Jalibert or even Ntamack. Another sign of strong credit, the presence of Mohamed Haouas and Gabin Villière in the starting XV. Injured, the pillar of Montpellier and the winger of Toulon had yet missed the first week of preparation.
As expected, the ex-irremovable Grégory Alldritt file on the sidelines to leave the front of the stage to a third line Woki-Jelonch-Cros.
But in the forwards, the little surprise is called Thibaud Flament.
The 24-year-old Toulousain, a neophyte at the international level who started rugby in Belgium before continuing in the sport in Argentina and England, will start in the second row alongside Paul Willemse.
Finally, the staff decided to bet on a sideline made up of six forwards and two backs.
Note the presence of Stade Français player Sekou Macalou, usual third row but able to help out on the wing.
The composition of the XV of France:
Jaminet - Villière, Ntamack, Fickou, Penaud - (m) Dupont (cap.), (O) Jalibert - Woki, Jelonch, Cros - Flament, Willemse - Baille, Marchand, Haouas.
Alternates:
Gros, Bamba, Mauvaka, R. Taofifenua, Macalou, Alldritt, Lucu, Danty.