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Rugby-France make two changes for England clash

PARIS, March 17 (Reuters - France coach Guy Noves has named forwards Bernard Le Roux and Loann Goujon in his team to face England in Paris on Saturday, making two changes to the side who were defeated by Scotland last weekend. Noves has swapped at least five players for each match of the tournament but resisted the temptation to make wholesale changes for the final fixture, bringing in the back rowers at the expense of Yacouba Camara and Wenceslas Lauret, who drop to the bench. "We need a new freshness," Noves said in a statement on Thursday. "The back row positions demand mental and physical freshness and this allows certain new players such as Le Roux to come into the side and show their potential." Francois Trinh-Duc and Maxime Machenaud retain their places despite unconvincing showings in the 29-18 defeat at Murrayfield that handed England the Six Nations title. Should they win in Paris, England will claim a first Grand Slam since 2003. Noves released six players on Wednesday, including lock Sebastien Vahaamahina and centre Jonathan Danty, who started France's first three games. France began their Six Nations campaign with victories over Italy and Ireland before defeats to Wales and Scotland ended hopes of a sixth Six Nations title and confirmed England as champions for the first time since 2011. France are fourth in the table on four points, while Eddie Jones's England are looking to end their victorious campaign with an unblemished record in the Australian's first tournament in charge. Team: 1-Jefferson Poirot, 2-Guilhem Guirado (captain), 3-Rabah Slimani, 4-Alexandre Flanquart, 5-Yoann Maestri, 6-Damien Chouly, 7-Bernard Le Roux, 8-Loann Goujon, 9-Maxime Machenaud, 10-Francois Trinh-Duc, 11-Virimi Vakatawa, 12-Maxime Mermo, 13-Gael Fickou, 14-Wesley Fofana, 15-Scott Spedding Replacements: 16-Camille Chat, 17-Uini Atonio, 18-Xavier Chiocci, 19-Paul Jedrasiak, 20-Wenceslas Lauret, 21-Sebastien Bezy, 22-Jules Plisson, 23-Maxime Medard (Writing by Ed Dove in Strasbourg; Editing by John O'Brien)