France and England call on new faces

Philippe Saint-Andre and Stuart Lancaster have put their faith in uncapped players for Saturday's Six Nations opener in Paris. France coach Saint-Andre has turned to Stade Francais fly-half Jules Plisson for the eagerly-awaited clash against England in the absence of Remi Tales and Camille Lopez. In a surprising turn of events, France suffered the humiliation of claiming the wooden spoon last year and the 22-year-old will be expected to hit the ground running as they attempt to restore some pride. England head coach Lancaster has handed debuts to wing Jack Nowell and centre Luther Burrell, with Brad Barritt starting on the bench. There is also a start for wing Jonny May, who made his Test debut on the tour of Argentina, as England seek to put the disappointment of finishing runners-up to Wales last year behind them. Lancaster is unable to call on eight players that would more than likely be in his squad due to injury, but is confident he has selected a side capable of beating France in their own backyard. "Congratulations to Jack and Luther who deserve their chance, as does Jonny May," said Lancaster, who masterminded a 24-22 victory over France during his first Six Nations campaign as interim head coach in March 2012. "It's also great to see Brad Barritt back with his experience and leadership, while Alex Goode will give us good cover at 15 and 10. "We felt the pack went well in the autumn and it's right to leave it unchanged but we have some quality players, including two British Lions in Tom (Youngs) and Mako (Vunipola), to come on. "We can't wait for Saturday. We've had a good two weeks and all the players have pushed hard for selection." Jean-Marc Doussain will partner Plisson at half-back for the hosts, with Mathieu Bastareaud and Wesley Fofana the midfield combination. Pascal Pape captains the side with Thierry Dusautoir sidelined due to a bicep injury. Saint-Andre had no hesitation in choosing to blood Plisson in a game of such magnitude as France strive to move on from a miserable 2013 in which they only won two games. He said: "Jules was the obvious choice as he only played 10 minutes with Stade Francais (in the Top 14) last Friday and we did a full session with him at number 10 while Francois Trinh-Duc only started training on Monday, "And Jean-Marc Doussain has worked at number nine last week." Bernard Le Roux has been charged with the task of replacing Dusautoir in the back row, along with Yannick Nyanga and Louis Picamoles.