Sheens rests Kangaroo stars for French face-off

Australian Kangaroos coach Tim Sheens has named his 17-man team to face the French Les Chanteclairs in Paris this Sunday morning (AEDT).

A number of big names have been rested for the clash which will see the Australians face the last-placed France in the final round-robin weekend of the Gillette Four Nations tournament. Amongst those taking a break are Greg Inglis, Justin Hodges, Cameron Smith and Billy Slater.

Opportunity now knocks for several Australian debutants, with Michael Jennings, Josh Morris and Cooper Cronk all named in the seventeen. Cronk will take his place on the bench while Robbie Farah will start at hooker for Australia in just his second Test match.

Australian side vs France, Charlety Stadium in Paris, on Sunday 8 November at 1:30am AEDT: 1. Kurt Gidley 2. Brett Morris 3. Josh Morris 4. Michael Jennings 5. Jarryd Hayne 6. Darren Lockyer (c) 7. Johnathon Thurston 8. Ben Hannant 9. Robbie Farah 10. Petero Civoniceva 11. Trent Waterhouse 12. Ryan Hoffman 13. Nathan Hindmarsh Interchange: Cooper Cronk, Luke Lewis, David Shillington, Sam Thaiday.

The referee for the France v Australia will be New Zealand referee Leon Williamson.