Laporte rotates Les Bleus' line-up

France coach Bernard Laporte has made five changes in his squad ahead of their second RBS 6 Nations match against England at Twickenham on Sunday.

Perpignan prop Nicolas Mas, who has not been called up since June 2003, replaces the injured Pieter de Villiers while Sale hooker Sebastien Bruno will make his international bow instead of William Servat.

Flanker Serge Betsen makes his return to the national side after shaking off injury, provided he is not banned by the ERC for injuring Wasps’ Stuart Abbott during a European Cup clash between the English side and Biarritz.

Biarritz scrum-half Dimitri Yachvili will start instead of Clermont Auvergne’s Pierre Mignoni and will be paired with fly-half Yann Delaigue.

Winger Jimmy Marlu is also in the starting line-up to compensate for the absence of Aurelien Rougerie, who sustained a facial injury during his side’s last-minute 16-9 victory over Scotland in Paris on Saturday.

Team manager Jo Maso insists the changes concerning Mignoni and Servat were down to simple squad rotation.

The French attribute their back-to-back November Test match defeats to Argentina and New Zealand to not mixing the team up enough and believe they have learned their lessons.

“Last November we made a mistake by keeping the same team,” said Maso.

“We need to bring some evolution to it and rotate it. All 22 players are close to each other in terms of level but competition will sustain enthusiasm and dynamism. This is no punishment at all.”

Yachvili will be the kicker at Twickenham after Delaigue and Damien Traille failed to live up to expectations last weekend.

If Betsen is suspended by the ERC – the decision will be made on Wednesday afternoon in Glasgow after a players’ hearing – Laporte will replace him with Yannick Nyanga and Remy Martin will be called up on the bench.

The France team to play England in the RBS 6 Nations at Twickenham on Sunday is:

P Elhorga (Agen); C Dominici (Stade Francais), B Liebenberg (Stade Francais), D Traille (Biarritz), J Marlu (Biarritz); Y Delaigue (Castres), D Yachvili (Biarritz); N Mas (Perpignan), S Bruno (Sale Sharks), S Marconnet (Stade Francais), J Thion (Biarritz), F Pelous (Toulouse, captain), S Chabal (Sale Sharks), J Bonnaire (Bourgoin), S Betsen (Biarritz).

Replacements: W Servat (Toulouse), O Milloud (Bourgoin), G Lamboley (Toulouse), Y Nyanga (Beziers), P Mignoni (Clermont), F Michalak (Toulouse), J-P Grandclaude (Perpignan).