Maxime Lucu will take over from the French captain at scrumhalf for the clash at Stade de France

France have come up with ‌a novel way of solving their injury problem at outhalf by switching their inspirational scrumhalf Antoine Dupont into the role in a huge call for ‌their clash against South Africa in the Nations Championship on Friday night (8.10pm, live on Virgin Media & ITV).

The former World Player of the Year will replace Romain Ntamack, who dislocated his left ​shoulder in the first half of last weekend’s victory over Fiji in Lyon, with Maxime Lucu taking Dupont’s place at scrumhalf.

Lucu came off the bench to play outhalf for the majority of the 54-17 win over Fiji but Dupont gets the nod for the clash against the world ​champions, in a calculated gamble, having played outhalf eight times in his club career, most recently in 2024, although never at Test level.

“We have two icons, ⁠one playing in Bordeaux [Lucu] and the other in Toulouse [Dupont], whom we have wanted to bring together to lead ‌this ‌French ​team on Friday evening,” coach Fabien Galthie told a press conference on Wednesday.

“It won’t be easy, but having discussed it with them – we’ve probably talked about it more than we’ve ⁠trained for it – we’ve visualised how it will ​work, and we believe this is the best solution.”

Lucu has ​proven a more than adept replacement for Dupont at scrumhalf during his spell out with injury and is also likely ‌to take up the kicking duties, while Dupont’s ​silky skills make him one of the game’s most exciting players.

France have Matthieu Jalibert and Thomas Ramos out with ⁠thigh injuries, and Antoine Hastoy unavailable after suffering an ⁠ankle injury last month.

Had ​they gone for a specialist to replace Ntamack, they would have likely picked the 22-year-old uncapped Axel Desperes, who has been included on the bench for Friday’s clash.

“We simply did what we felt was best. We haven’t particularly listened to the advice of others,” Galthie added.

“There are plenty of coaches in France offering opinions on team selections, and I can see that people all over the world are interested in our French team. I’m perfectly happy with that. It means Les Bleus are popular.

“So, yes, I hear the advice coming from ‌around the world, but ultimately, ⁠we know our players very well.”

In other changes, Gregory Alldritt replaces the injured Paul Boudehent in the backrow as Francois Cros moves from number eight to blindside flanker.

France have also brought back hooker ‌Julien Marchand, who replaces Maxime Lamothe with Peato Mauvaka retaining his role as the replacement hooker on the bench.

FRANCE (v South Africa): Theo Attissogbe; Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang, Kalvin ​Gourgues, Yoram Moefana, Louis Bielle-Biarrey; Antoine Dupont (capt), Maxime Lucu; Jean-Baptiste Gros, Julien Marchand, Sipili Falatea; Florian Verhaeghe, Mickael Guillard; Francois ​Cros, Cameron Woki, Gregory Alldritt.

Replacements: Peato Mauvaka, Rodrigue Neti, Regis Montagne, Charles Ollivon, Tom Staniforth, Esteban Capilla, Axel Desperes, Emilien Gailleton.