Bordeaux Begles scrum-half Baptiste Serin has been handed his chance on the big stage by France coach Guy Noves in Saturday's Twickenham clash with England.
The 22-year-old will be making his RBS 6 Nations debut, having made his first appearances for France in last summer's tour of Argentina.
Noves chose Serin ahead of Maxime Machenaud, who drops to the bench despite starting in each of France's three autumn internationals.
Découvrez votre #XVdeFrance pour le #Crunch de samedi ! On espère que les Bleus débuteront 2017 du bon pied ! #ANGFRA ! 🐓⚡️🌹 pic.twitter.com/C4IgeUgUWV
— FF Rugby (@FFRugby) February 2, 2017
Serin is joined in the half-backs by Clermont fly-half Camille Lopez, with Gael Fickou handed his chance at inside centre due to Wesley Fofana's Achilles injury, which rules him out of the championship.
Bordeaux number nine Serin has impressed for his club, showing dazzling trickery at times, and Noves senses he can take his form onto the international stage as France look to make a flying start against the reigning Grand Slam champions.
Noves said: "A year ago Maxime was our third choice scrum-half and he became number one. But Baptiste had a very good tour in Argentina and some good appearances off the bench in November, therefore it seemed judicious to us to see him in a tough match.
"We're convinced we can count on him in the future but we want to try him out in a difficult situation."
Noves added, according to L'Equipe: "If we trust him, he has to show his qualities in the toughest situations. To only play in the lesser matches, that doesn't seem smart to me.
"Some people want to see him start, others (want him) to come on in the course of a match. We have made this choice.
"We're working on the future, we don't have too many matches therefore it seemed judicious for us to see him in this match, knowing that Maxime is on the bench and that other scrum-halves are pushing behind him."
France will be led in London by captain and hooker Guilhem Guirado, the French rugby federation (FFR) announced.
Live Six Nations coverage of Scotland versus Ireland on RTÉ Two from 1.30pm on Saturday (KO 2.25pm) and live radio commentary on RTÉ Radio 1’s Saturday Sport programme from 2pm.
Live coverage of Scotland v Ireland in the Women’s Six Nations on RTÉ Two from 6.30pm (KO 6.35pm) on RTÉ 2, with live radio updates and reaction on an extended 2FM Game On programme at 7pm.
Live coverage of Scotland v Ireland in the U20's Six Nations on RTÉ Two from 8.15pm (KO 8.30pm)
