France tweak squad for Twickenham

Damien Traille is likely to feature on the bench at Twickenham

France have made four changes to their 23-man squad for their Six Nations match against England on 15 March.

Coach Mark Lievremont has recalled centres Florian Fritz and Damien Traille in place of Clement Poitrenaud and the injured Benoit Baby (knee).

Back-row forwards Fulgence Ouedraogo and Louis Picamoles make way for lock Jerome Thion and Julien Bonnaire.

Sebastien Chabal moves from lock to the back row, while Francois Trinh-Duc is the only fly-half named in the party.

Stade Francais stand-off Lionel Beauxis is still out with a back injury.

Fresh from a confidence-boosting 21-16 victory over defending champions Wales in Paris last Friday, Lievremont has once again tinkered with his squad.

The omission of blind-side flanker Ouedraogo, who has formed a potent back-row trio wuth Thierry Dusautoir and Imanol Harinordoquy, is the biggest surprise.

With Chabal set to return to the back row, Bonnaire - who has not been involved with Les Bleus for almost a year - is likely to start on the bench.

Thion, whose last Test was the final match of last year's Six Nations against Wales, will compete with Romain Millo-Chluski for the second-row spot alongside captain Lionel Nallet.

Fritz returns having served a three-week ban for punching during France's 30-21 defeat by Ireland on the opening weekend of the Six Nations.

But he may also have to settle for a place on the bench after the superb debut of Mathieu Bastareaud at outside centre against Wales.

Traille, who last played for France in their defeat by Australia in November, offers options at centre, full-back or fly-half.

Sale's Lionel Faure is added to the four props on duty against Wales, with one of the quartet set to miss on the match-day 22.

France have lost their last two Tests against England - last year's Six Nations clash in Paris and the semi-finals of the 2007 World Cup.

They also lost on their last Six Nations visit to Twickenham, in 2007, but did win a World Cup warm-up match there later the same year.

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France squad to face England at Twickenham on 15 March:

Backs: Maxime Medard, Cedric Heymans (both Toulouse), Julien Malzieu (Clermont-Auvergne), Damien Traille (Biarritz), Mathieu Bastareaud (Stade Francais), Florian Fritz, Yannick Jauzion (both Toulouse), Francois Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), Morgan Parra (Bourgoin), Sebastien Tillous-Borde (Castres).

Forwards: Benjamin Kayser (Leicester), Dimitri Szarzewski, Fabien Barcella (Biarritz), Thomas Domingo (Clermont-Auvergne), Lionel Faure (Sale), Sylvain Marconnet (both Stade Francais), Romain Millo-Chluski (Toulouse), Lionel Nallet (Castres, capt), Jerome Thion (Biarritz), Julien Bonnaire (Clermont-Auvergne), Sebastien Chabal (Sale), Thierry Dusautoir (Toulouse), Imanol Harinordoquy (Biarritz).