Dupont Returns to Lead Injury-Hit France Against Fiji as Gourgues Earns First Start

Antoine Dupont will captain France against Fiji in Lyon on Saturday as head coach Fabien Galthié named his side for the opening November Nations Championship fixture despite a mounting injury crisis. Dupont reclaims the number nine jersey from Maxime Lucu, who impressed in the scrum-half role during France's July fixtures while the Toulouse star was absent. Lucu drops to the bench as Galthié again opts for a 6-2 split between forwards and backs. The headline selection is rising star Kalvin Gourgues, who earns his first start for Les Bleus at outside centre after four appearances from the bench. He partners Yoram Moefana in midfield, with Théo Attissogbe starting at full-back in the absence of Thomas Ramos and Louis Bielle-Biarrey returning on the left wing. France are without Fabien Brau-Boirie, Emmanuel Meafou, Thibaud Flament and Matthieu Jalibert for the November internationals, and the crisis deepened this week when Oscar Jegou suffered a rib injury in training. Mickaël Guillard and Florian Verhaeghe start in the second row, while François Cros gets the nod at number eight with Gregory Alldritt overlooked. There is also a recall for veteran loosehead Jefferson Poirot, who came out of international retirement earlier this year, and Esteban Capilla is in line for a Test debut from the bench. France host Jake White's Fiji at the Groupama Stadium on Saturday, with kick-off at 21:10 local time, as the Northern Hemisphere leg of the Nations Championship gets under way.