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Thomas is dropped for Sunday's game. Billy Stickland/INPHO

Galthié doubting Thomas’ ability to do job against the Scots

French coach drops inconsistent French winger Teddy Thomas for Sunday’s big game in Murrayfield.

FRANCE WINGER TEDDY Thomas has paid the price for his poor performance against Wales after Fabien Galthié opted for Damian Penaud to play Scotland on Sunday (kick-off 3pm, live Virgin Media).

Galthié has made just one other change to the team – Cyril Baille going out, Jefferson Poirot coming in to the front row. Otherwise it is an unchanged team, as France finally have copped on to the merits of sticking with some shape of selection consistency.

Chasing a grand slam, France land in Murrayfield tomorrow for their captain’s run, haunted by the memories of their last two championship matches at the Edinburgh venue in 2018 and 2016, when they lost by six and 11-point margins.

But this is a different French team in terms of mentality. However, it’s strikingly similar in terms of personnel to the one that shone in Cardiff, two weeks ago. Anthony Bouthier is joined in the back three by Clermont winger, Penaud, and also by Gael Fickou.

Penaud missed the first three matches of the tournament after tearing a calf muscle on the eve of the opening game against England – but scored twice against Scotland in a World Cup warm-up game. He was a regular in France’s World Cup campaign, too.

At centre, Arthur Vincent continues his partnership with Virimi Vakatawa. Romain Ntamack and Antoine Dupont remain the half-backs, with Poirot lining up in the front row alongside Julien Marchand and Mohamed Haouas.

The second row pairing, once again, sees Bernard Le Roux joined by Paul Willemse. Francois Cros, Charles Ollivon and Grégory Alldritt comprise the back-row.

France:

15: A Bouthier

14: D Penaud

13: V Vakatawa

12: A Vincent

11: G Fickou

10: R Ntamack

9: A Dupont

1: J Poirot

2: J Marchand

3: M Haouas

4: B LeRoux

5: P Willemse

6: F Cros

7: C Ollivon

8: G Alldritt

Replacements

Chat, Gros, Bamba, Taofifénua, Cretin, Serin, Jalibert, Ramos

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